The Glares I Get
by AnotherAspiringWriter
Summary: Did they ever tell us the real reason Cat dyes her hair? Not really, not well enough.  And what do her parents have to do with it all? Now that we think about, Cat has one screwed up life... But can her friends help her out?
1. Chapter 1

A mistake. One big, huge, giant mistake. That's all I was to my parents. They didn't even try to hide the fact from me. I wasn't exactly a planned child. My mom and dad were fine with just my brother. One child was enough for them. But then all of a sudden I showed up. They never hurt me or anything, but they definitely made it clear that they weren't too fond of me. They barely acknowledged my existence, they obviously thought I was some sort of idiot, and they barely ever smile at me.

So one day, I did something that definitely get me noticed. I got one of my friends, Jade, to come with me to get the dye. I was only 13 the day we walked to the convenience store that was down the street from my house. Jade wasn't (still isn't) exactly the type of person with a high tolerance level. Oh no, not one bit. But yet she put up with me. I spent hours searching for just the right color. One that definitely would get me noticed by my parents.

I looked and looked, imagining each color in my hair. Purple? Mmm... No. Green? Eww, I'd look like a booger. Blue? No, I bate that color. I saw it. Right out of the corner of my eye. It was the perfect color. Just the right one. Red. Like red velvet cupcakes. My favorite thing on the whole wide world. And that's when I knew that that was the color for me. It was just absolutely perfect. If that didn't catch my parent eye, I don't know what would. Well, maybe a Godzilla would, but I doubt one of those would be coming through here anytime soon.

"This one!" I squealed to Jade.

We had been standing in the hair isle for at least an hour.

"Finally!" she grunted and grabbed the can off the shelve.

I took it to the front and paid for it. The cashier gave me a funny look as she scanned my hair dye. I just smiled back at her. Over the years, I've gotten used to those glares that random strangers would give me. Even before I dyed my hair, everyone thought I was somewhat strange. Like I belonged in a nut house or something.

Jade walked with me back to my house. My parents weren't home and my older brother, Bill, was probably out somewhere, getting drunk with his buddies.

We went up to my bathroom and got started with my hair. I'll admit, I was super duper excited. Finally something that would put me on my parents mind for a couple of minutes. Give them something to wonder about. As far as I knew, they had no idea who I really was on the inside.

It took an hour for me and Jade to finally get it done. As soon as it was over with, Jade had to rush home. One thing me and Jade had in common was that neither of our parent really approved of us. Jade's parents thought acting was a waste of time and mine thought I was a waste of time.

I was so excited to see the outcome of my hair. It was all nice and red. I absolutely loved it. But when my parents came home, they didn't even notice. They looked at me for one second and then just looked away. I ran up to my room and just cried myself to sleep. I guess I spend most nights like this. No matter how happy I look on the outside, I will always be the sad little girl that just wants parents that noticed her. But no matter how hard I wished, on every star, on every dandelion, on every eye lash, on every candle that was half-heatedly lit, it never happened.

So here I am, 3 years later, still thinking that I'm a huge mistake. But I put on a cheery smile for my friends. We're sitting in the mall, all 7 of us. 8 if you include Rex. I see a little girl, on her left was her mom, on her right was her dad. They were holding her hands as they smiled down at her. How I longed for that when I was around her age. Buy did I ever get it? Nope. I still try to look happy, but it was really hard. And I always try to look on the bright side.


	2. Chapter 2

Then there was the day that I came home with a shiner. Did they care? Nope. They didn't take a second look at me. They barely took a first. My brother? I didn't even know where he was at the time, as always. He seems to never be home. And my parents think he's the perfect son. If they only knew what he was really doing every Friday night when he said he was going to a movie with some friends. yeah right. Lord knows he goes to unsupervised parties every week. And he's was the most amazing son in the world in my parents eyes. They didn't care about my black eye. It didn't faze them.

I was at school with Jade. We were sitting in the Asphalt Cafe, waiting for the others to show up. Sikowitz held them back for a little bit to clean up, we had done a food fight improv today. A big mean looking girl came up to me and Jade. I knew who she was, she was Amy Harris, one of the top bullies of the school. Jade did try to protect me from her, but it didn't work out too well. Apparently, I started some rumor about Amy actually being a boy. I don't remember saying that though. I could've accidentally said it, but I'm almost positive didn't. But I still smiled at her.

Amy came over and lifted me up into standing position. Then she proceeded to lift me at least a foot of the ground. She had me by my shirt and shook me a little. Jade tried to make her drop me, but she only got shoved aside. Poor Jade. Amy made her scrape her elbow. But that didn't stop Jade.

"Put. Her. Down!" she kept yelling.

Amy never did put me down. She looked deep onto me with her menacing eyes. She slowly reeled her fist back. Everyone gathered around but no one stopped her. I could see Tori and the others try to break through the crowd but they couldn't get to me in time. Amy threw her fist at me with full force. It hurt. A lot. I saw stars for a couple of minutes. They were pretty little stars.

When I finally came to Jade, Tori, Beck, Andre, Robbie, and Rex were gathered around me. They were all kneeling and looking sown at me. I was still on the cold cement. Everyone who was in the crowd had disappeared, especially Amy. They all looked down at me with sad eyes. Everyone was so quite. Tori reached down and touched my eye but Jade smacked it away after a few moments.

"Are you ok?" Jade asked me.

"No, my face hurts."

They all laughed at me. I didn't know what to do so I just laughed with them. I rubbed my cheek and Jae helped me off the ground. Tori went through her purse and took out something small, flat, and purple. She handed the little purple object to me. I opened it up and it revealed to be a compact mirror. I looked at my reflection and gasped. There was a huge black spot surrounding my eye.

As my friends walked me out of the school everyone stared at me. Tori and Jade had to support my body to keep me up. If they didn't I surely would've collapsed in a pile of mush and not want to get up. I just wanted to go home, take this stupid smile off my face, and wallow in self-pity.

When I finally got home, guess who didn't care about the huge black spot on my face. Oh, and guess who was "out with his buddies." As I had promised myself in Tori's car, I went up to my room, stopped that stupid smile that covered my face, and wallowed. I wallowed my little heart out.


	3. Chapter 3

Mom left my dad. Good for her. Listen, I know she didn't care about me, but did she have to leave me. So instead, she take my brother... She left me all alone with the one person who might hate me than anything in the world. You might think I'm being dramatic, but honestly I'm not. I'm actually being dead serious. Dad, as you all know, didn't acknowledge my existence. I've said many times before and as much as I want to say that it's not true, I know that it is. I try to show him that I'm worth something. Whenever I can, I do nothing but nice things for him. Do I ever get a "thanks" or "your the best, Cat"? Nope.

The second Mom and My brother stepped foot out of the house with that big blue suitcase, Dad cracked open the liquor cabinet. He pulled out the bugged bottle in there and started chugging away. It was starting to worry about that, he's not exactly a good drunk person. Mom shouldn't have left me like this, but what could she possibly do about it. Nothing. She couldn't do anything about it at all. She probably wouldn't even try.

I ran up to my room and hid underneath my covers. I heard a bunch of crashing and thumping coming from downstairs. I heard grunting and shouting emanating from the lower level of my house. There was a thumping noise coming from the stairs. It got closer and louder. Dad was coming up the stairs and was heading towards my room. he pounded on my door. I didn't want to answer my door, I was too afraid. But then there was a shattering. I think he threw his bottle against my door.

"Come on Kitty Cat, open the door for Daddy."

I foolishly got up and opened the door. It slowly creaked open. There, standing in front of me, was my drunken dad with a broken bottle in his hand. He slowly stumbled towards me. With each step he took forward, I took a step back. He came closer and closer to me with that broken bottle. I still had that black eye, and I think might be getting another one soon. Dad looked straight at my bare arm. He charged forwards.

"It's all your fault, you're the reason they left. It's all because of you!"

I was pushed up against my window. He took the bottle and started at my shoulder. The glass pierced my skin and I let out a scream of pain. He dragged the glass down my arm to my wrist. It hurt and I didn't know what else to do but scream, hoping he would just stop. He didn't stop for a second. He looked at my other arm and did the same to it. I felt my shirt being taken off, a sharp object being stabbed into me. The bottle was once again dragged across my skin. I was covered in a bloody mess.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw a blue mustang. Jade! That was Jade's car, u would recognize it anywhere. One long, black jean covered leg stuck itself out of the car. The rest of Jade came out. She had her keys in her hand a d closed the door and locked the car. She walked towards the door. Downstairs I heard the doorbell ring. My blood covered dad stopped cutting me. He looked at my closed door. He left the bottle in me and ran away. I looked out the window moments later and saw him running to his car. Jade wasn't at the door anymore.

"Jade!" I yelled hoping she was still here


	4. Chapter 4

There was stomping coming up the stairs. Dad is long gone by now and Jade was stomping up the stairs. When she came to my door, she gasped at the sight of all the blood that surrounded me. The broken bottle was still impaled in my rib area. She rushed over to me; she reached down and touched the bottle.

"Are you ok? Do you want me to take it out? Who did this to you? Was it your dad?"

When I tried to talk, blood came out. I just nodded at her hoping she would understand. I definitely wanted this thing out of me. But she didn't, it stayed in me. It's probably better that way; I heard you could bleed out and die if you took it something that was in you out right away. That wouldn't be a good thing. But then again… Maybe it would be.

"H-h…h-hos-spit…t-tal" I struggled.

Jade whipped out her cell phone. I watched as she dialed 911 and put the phone to her ear. I could hear it ringing.

"It's ok, Cat. It's ok. It's going to all be ok." She whispered as the phone rang and rang.

Someone finally picked up on the other end. I heard mumbles, but I couldn't tell what anyone was saying. Not even Jade's voice rang very clear to me at all. When I finally heard the sirens, the downstairs door opening, the stomping up my stairs, I started to slowly ease up a little bit. I couldn't tell anyone about my dad, I'll have to find away to explain all of this to Jade, the doctors, my friends.

The paramedics put me up on the wheelie table thing; I think they call it a gurney or something like that. They carefully wheeled my down the stairs, out the door, and into the ambulance car. The whole time Jade stayed with me and the whole time there was a look of pure concern plastered on her face. I swear she looked more worried than I was.

The paramedics worked on me while we were in the van. Slowly, they removed the bottle from me and bandaged all my wounds. I winced in pain as the bottle finally exited my rib cage. Both of my arms and my abdomen were completely covered in white bandages. I looked like a partial mummy.

When we got to the hospital, they said they needed to hook me up to some sort of machine that beeps a lot. Apparently, it told them whether or not I was still alive. Does that make any sense? Couldn't they just look at me and tell whether I was still alive or not? It was weird to me, I don't like hospitals all that much. They kind of scared me.

"Cat, are you ok?" Jade asked as she walked into my room.

"Yeah." I responded, somewhat weakly.

"Cat…" she seemed to be in some sort of deep thought. "Did… did your dad do this to you?"

"What? Psh… psh. What! Of course not!"

"Cat, you are a _terrible _liar."

"But…But… Would you believe me if I told you I was drinking?"

"No."

There was a very awkward silence. I couldn't think of any more lies, if you couldn't tell already, I'm a really bad liar. I always have been and I always will be. So Jade could practically see right through me.

"Well, then what do you think happened?"

She appeared to be pondering over it. Fitting all the pieces together, making sure they all fit together just the right way.

"I think your dad finally cracked."

Spot on. Jade was really good at figuring things out. Especially things like this.

"Please don't tell anyone!" I begged her.

"Cat, what do you think you're going to tell the doctors if they ask?"

"_If_ they ask, I'll tell them it was all an accident. I fell."

Jade just stood there and shook her head at me. She's been there for me almost my whole life. She's always kept my secrets, helped me through the hard times, and on top of all that she was my best friend. I knew she would understand why I didn't want people to know about this. Even though I've never told her, she knew about me and my parents.

"Fine Cat. If you think that'll work, go ahead and try it. But I'm telling you right now that it won't work."

It worked. Take that Jade! But now I have to suffer through school with everyone asking me questions. It will be somewhat hard to keep my story straight. I'll have to make note cards or something.


	5. Chapter 5

And, apparently, I was absolutely right. The very next day at school, I was bombarded by questions the second I stepped foot into Hollywood Arts. Tori was the first. Everyone slowly leaked in and asked the same exact questions. I wish someone would just spice it up a little and ask some new questions. But no, they were all the same.

"Hey, Cat. What happened to your arms?"

"Oh, umm…" I started. I really should've made those note cards the night before. "Well, you know how I'm really clumsy. I just kinda fell and accidently cut my arms."

"Both of them?"

Darn it. She was already getting suspicious. What was I supposed to do about that? Sure, everyone else was just so gullible, even more gullible than me, but not Tori. She was like Jade. She tried to fit everything together and if it didn't work she would start all over again.

"Yeah. That's just how klutzy I am." I let out a fake giggle.

She was onto me. I knew she was, I could feel it in the pit of my stomach. She was able to see through me just as Jade was. Maybe… maybe, if I thought if it as acting. Then, maybe, it would be easier. I just had to think of it as acting.

As soon as we broke eye contact I skipped away. My whole entire life was one huge play, sometimes a musical. Why should this be any different? It shouldn't be that hard. If you've done it once you've done it a million times. That's just how easy it was for me. Not to brag or anything, but I was one of the best actors in Hollywood Arts. Only second to, who else but Tori Vega.

Jade walked up to me.

"Hey, are you ok?"

I just nodded. I couldn't talk; I wasn't in a talking mood at all today, even though I usually am.

"I have a question for you."

I looked up at her. From where I was standing, she looked so much taller than me. It was kind of intimidating.

"Do you wanna stay at my place for a while?"

Jade lived in an apartment by herself. It looked like the devil barfed all over it. I've only been there a couple of time but I knew that the walls were red and there was black shag carpeting in every room. There were two rooms that had a black wooden dresser and a bed with covers that were a very dar shade of purple.

"No, I'm sorry, I can't."

Jade looked at me like she was hurt or maybe even a little bit offended. I really hope I didn't offend her in any way possible. I know she was trying to be nice to me, but I had to make sure Dad didn't do anything stupid. In a way, he needed me to make sure he didn't make any mistakes.

I slowly suffered through the rest of the day. I still tried to smile the whole way through, but when no one was looking, I let a little sigh slip. The hallways were unusually filled with people; usually there is a lot of space to move around. Every time someone would bump into me it took every fiber of my being not to scream out in pain. Yet I did wince every now and then, whenever I was positive no one was paying any attention to me.

Sikowits threw his big bouncy ball really hard at me in class because I was a little bit late. It hit me right in my ribs and you can probably guess what happened next.

"Oww!"

I fell over in pain and everyone just stared at me. I felt the bandage that covered my cut. The doctors told me that the cut could reopen really easily if it came in contact with something hard enough. There was a warm watery feeling; I pulled my hand out to see it covered in red liquids. Jade jumped out of her chair and rushed over to me.


	6. Chapter 6

Jade helped me to my feet and rushed me out the door. I looked behind me, on the floor there was a fairly large puddle of blood. The room was filled with shocked and confused faces. I felt kind of bad for leaving them like that, without any sort of explanation.

Jade practically dragged me to the bathroom. She took me into the second stall and rifled around in her purse for something. Moments later, out came some gauze.

"Jade—"

"Shut up and take your shirt off." Jade demanded

As inappropriate as that sounded, I did what she said. She took the gauze that was already wrapped around me off. Out came some sort of brown bottle and cotton balls from her purse. She dabbed it on my cuts and rewrapped me. With every dab, I flinched in pain.

"Jade, were did you get all of this stuff?" I asked her

"I took it from the hospital." She responded still wrapping me up.

Someone came into the bathroom. Jade signaled for me to be quite.

"Jade? Cat? Are you guys in here?"

It was Tori. I heard her feet clacking against the bathroom floor. The clacking stopped when it came to the second stall. The door swung open. Tori appeared and stared at Jade with her arms wrapped around me. I guess if you just kind of walked in on what was going on, you could take it the wrong way… but it wasn't like that at all.

"Umm… Sikowits wants you guys back in class." She said and stared at me and Jade "Do you two want to be left alone for a while?"

"Shut it Vega!" Jade yelled and dropped her arms to her side. "Cat, do you need a change of clothes?"

I looked down at the shirt that was on the floor. It was mine and it was stained with blood. I looked back up at Jade and nodded, I knew she always kept some extra clothes at school. One thing you need to know when you go to school at Hollywood Arts, you almost _always _should have an extra everything. Just in case.

Jade left me with Tori. Alone. In a bathroom. Covered in blood. Kind of awkward if you ask me.

"What… Happened yesterday? What happened in class? Why were you bleeding so much?"

I ignored all of her questions. I wasn't in a mood for talking at all. Even though I usually was, just not now. I walked over to the sinks and hopped up on one of them to sit on. It must have been even more awkward for Tori because she kept staring at me like it was. I kicked my legs as if I wasn't the least bit uncomfortable with any of this.

I looked down at my gauze covered self. It was so weird seeing so much red and white on me, it was almost out of the ordinary. But only almost.

"Are you ok?" Tori asked me.

I almost let a tear fall from my face. All I did was nod and stare blankly at the door, waiting for Jade to appear with some clothes. Knowing Jade, the clothes would probably be black. When will she get back? I just really wanted her to hurry. When I finally heard Jade coming I jumped off the porcelain sink.

"Here you go." She said and threw the clothes at me.

It was a black shirt, just as I suspected. I put it on over my bandages. Jade and Tori walked me back to Sikowits' class. No questions were asked. Weird glances made up for the lack of questions though.


	7. Chapter 7

I suffered through the rest of the day with aches and pains. I must've been the thing most people were talking about because everyone just kept looking at me and whispering. It was kind of making me really insecure about everything. But Jade and Tori were with me for the rest of the day and only left me when they had a different class then I did. The only class I had that they didn't was my Costume Design class and my Special Effects class.

After school, Jade tried to talk me into coming over to her house again.

"Cat, please! I don't want you getting near him again. Not after last night. What if he hurts you again? Well?"

"Jade, trust me, I can protect myself."

Jade obviously didn't believe me, probably because I was lying straight through my teeth. I probably couldn't protect myself against a spider. Jade stared me down until I finally caved in to her. I don't know what it is, but Jade had this way of talking me into doing things without even talking. Weird, right?

The drive to her house was in complete and awkward silence. Every now and then, Jade would look over at me to see what I was doing. Most of the time I would be looking out the window, thinking. Sometimes I would just be looking dead ahead. Other times I would be looking at my bandaged arms.

"Jade?" I said, still looking at my arms.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think, you know, maybe I deserved this?"

"Why would you possibly deserve it? I still can't get over the fact that your dad did it in the first place! You really shouldn't think that way, it's not healthy."

I thought over this for a bit. I didn't understand it that much either. He was angry, I was there, that's all it took apparently.

"Yeah, right…" I responded

We got to Jade's place after about 23 minutes of being in a car. It was a huge apartment building, maybe thirty or more floors, with a lot of windows. It was blue with a clear sliding door entrance. I haven't been to Jade's house a lot of times before. Yet I do know it well enough to tell you the exact contents of the bathroom, living room, and Jade's room. She thought that that was kind of stalkerish though.

Jade brought me inside and up to her apartment; it was just as I had remembered it to be. She lived up on the twenty-seventh floor of the big blue building. Jade had just recently moved into the building. Mr. West, Jade's father, had kicked her out of his house for reasons I have not yet discovered. I really wish I knew though, I just hate not being aware of things. Especially things that have to do with my friends and their life. I hated it. And I'm not even a hateful person.

Like I said, Jade's apartment looked like the devil barfed all over it. Walls were blood red and there was black shag carpeting in all of the little rooms. The only two bedrooms that were there each had a bed, a desk, and a dresser. The bathroom was the only room that had white walls and furniture. Jade showed me to the room she said I could spend the night in. When I looked into it, it was different than the last time I saw it. Now, it had black walls but there were also blue and purple waves. Kind of like if you've ever seen the Northern Lights. It was really breath taking, in a way. Jade told me that she designed and painted the room all herself. Wow, she was super talented; it looked exactly like an aurora. Also, there was now a bedside table with a red lamp on it that you tapped for it to turn on.

"I'm only staying for _one _night. Ok, Jade. Only one."

She glared at me. It was a very, very uncomfortable one, too. It was almost icy; like I could literally feel icicles slowly, but painfully piercing my face. I felt goose bumps starting to rise on my arms. Her blue eyes felt like they could see right through me; right past all the lies I've told today, all the thoughts in my head, and all the other things that they could possibly see through. It was kind of scary actually. Like, you know how Medusa turned men to stone? Well, as I stood there, that's exactly what I felt like. That's the only other way I know how to explain this sort of feeling, a feeling only a West could give you.

"One night. Maybe two. Or possibly three. I guess we'll see if you change your mind…"


	8. Chapter 8

"_One night. Maybe two. Or possibly three. I guess we'll see if you change your mind…"_

Jade is really, really confusing me. I think she really wanted me to stay. But if I did, what would happen with my dad? I know I shouldn't care an ounce, but I do. I don't exactly know why I do, but I just do. Jade keeps telling me that he doesn't deserve being in my thought, but I just can't stop thinking about him. Even if he hasn't been the best dad in the world, he still _is _my dad, you know. I can't just walk out in him like my mom did. And my brother. I was the one who stayed, and if I had to drill that into my dad's brain for him to see that I love him, then I will. Maybe.

It seemed almost as if Jade had the whole evening planed out, as if she knew that I would finally cave into her devious ways. Which of course I did, or else I wouldn't be here. I think she was trying to take my mind off the massive pain that I was still going through.

"I'm thinking about redoing that room that you're in. what do you think?" Jade asked me while we were sitting on the black couch in the living room.

So far the room that I was in only had one wall with all those blue and purple waves. The rest of the walls were still black. Besides that all the furniture was just fine by me. I was only going to be there for one night. Maybe two. Possibly three. I don't know yet exactly.

"I think you should do more of that wavy stuff. It's really pretty. Plus it reminds me of your hair."

She gave me a weird look. Maybe I should've left that part about the hair out. Oh well.

"I wish I knew how to do that…" I said and looked towards the door of "my" room.

"Ya know, I _could_ show you how to do that. If you want me to that is."

I thought over that offer. It was a really cool thing to learn. And it would keep my mind busy; I was in absolutely no mood to think about anything that has to do with the past couple of days. I guess it couldn't hurt at all.

"Sure, I'd love to!" I yipped

Jade walked over to the kitchen and went by the sink; I followed her. She opened the cabinet under the sink and pulled out two big cans of paint. One purple and the other blue. I know I said before that I disliked the color blue, but know, actually seeing what I could do with it, I kind of liked it. It worked wonders when it was put in the hands of an artist like Jade.

"Come on." She said and grabbed some old newspapers off the kitchen table.

We went into the room and I helped her set out the newspapers. The lids of the paint popped off and as soon as they came off, we got painting.

"Ok, so this is how you do it…" she said handing me a brush covered in blue paint.

Jade showed me all sorts of wrist motions. The right way to glide and dabble. How to get the perfect strokes down. At first it seemed like it was going to be some sort of mess, but when we added the purple in, it looked amazing. Jade looked pretty impressed with my work so far. The room had this sort of mystical thing to it. It made me feel like not going to school tomorrow and just sitting and staring at the walls. But, sadly enough, I had to go to school.

It was about 4 in the morning by the time we were finally finished with the walls. Almost all of the newspapers on the floor were covered in paint, so were my bandages. I looked down and they were all splattered with blue and purple paint. It actually made me kind of like the bandages just a little bit.

"So what do you think?" Jade asked, pulling me out of my little mini-trance.

I looked around the room and inspected our work.

"I like it. You?"

"Yeah, it's pretty nice. Does it remind you of my hair?"

There were a few seconds of awkward silence as our eyes met before we both busted out laughing. I think Jade might have even laughed harder than I did, which was rare. Jade hardly ever laughed, let alone crack a little smile. It was kind of pleasing watching her smile.

"Maybe two…" I said when we both settled down a little bit. 


	9. Chapter 9

**(AN Dear BlueToughCookie, Yeah, you're right. But I'm trying to show that she can be nice to people if she wants to be. Thanks for the review though, it was rather honest.)**

I did end up spending the next couple of nights at Jade's house; I like it there. It was nice and surprisingly peaceful. Jade was actually a joy to be with when you get past her cool, mean, dark mask that she wears when she was with other people. She was actually really, really nice to me. I always expected her to be so mean; she usually was a little bit mean to me. Not as much as she was to other people though, like Tori. She hated Tori so much, it wasn't even funny.

As the days went on, I actually almost completely forgot about my dad. I didn't exactly forget what he did, but I definitely wasn't thinking about _him._ I was thinking more about having fun; Jade was surprisingly really fun. Plus, she was exciting and unpredictable. She did all sorts of things that made me feel at home. One night she had to go out to help Beck move some stuff around and she came back with a stuffed unicorn. I was super excited about it; she was a lot nicer than people think she is. I know I must say it a lot, but it's true. Very, very true.

For the first couple of nights, I wasn't too comfortable staying there. It was kind of weird because everything was so dark and mysterious, but I eventually got used to it. And when I did, I didn't want to leave. But I know I have to, eventually I have to go back to my dad. If I didn't, he would somehow do something that could be bad for me. If he gets arrested, I'll have to go to some sort of foster home. Trust me, I know, I researched it. And yes, I actually took the time to look it up. I would get sent to a foster home and I would most likely never see my friends again. It would suck.

It was time to go to school. Last day of the week, Friday. Finally. There is nothing better than a Friday besides a Saturday. Jade says that Mondays are the best because that means she gets a whole week ahead of her for messing with people and playing with scissors. Scissors were her favorite thing in the world. They really are, if you don't believe me just ask her, she'll tell you. Then she'll probably try to stab you with them, if she does that just kind of slowly back away.

Friday… Yeah, it's cool and all, but… today I wasn't in the best of moods. I was kind of in a sucky mood. For some reason, today I was thinking a lot about my dad. If I was anywhere else, it would be somewhat normal, but not at Jade's apartment. I would be thinking about other things. Better things.

"Jade, wake up, it's time to go." She was lying in her bed and still asleep. It was 7:48 am and almost time to leave for school.

I tried to shake Jade awake. She reached her hand out and lightly slapped my face. Not hard or anything, just a light little tap on my cheek. I laughed and poked her nose a couple times, saying "beep" each time I did.

"Shut up, I'm trying to sleep here." She said, trying to hold back a smile.

"Come on Jade, we have to go to school."

"Do we have to go?" she begged.

To be completely honest, I really didn't want to go either. I was in one of those moods today. Like I said a couple times before, I really try to cover up everything with happiness, but sometimes, it just doesn't work. Today was one of those days. I hate admitting that I feel anything besides happy, but right now I have to admit it. It was almost obvious.

"No, I guess not." I told her. "We would probably be late anyway."

Jade opened one eye and looked at me. She must've seen the look on my face because she opened her other eye and sat up.

"Ok." She patted the empty space on the bed next to her. "What's wrong?"

I sat down and told her what was on my mind. I told her I couldn't stop thinking about my dad. I told her I had to go see him.


	10. Chapter 10

**(AN FreakierThanFreaks and ****WinxClubiCarlyBTRVictorious 8D****: I just love reading your reviews! They make me feel all bubbly inside!)**

As much as Jade didn't want me to go, I went anyway. Since she absolutely refused to drive me (she wouldn't even budge) I took the bus. The bus had a lot of creepy looking people on there. I must not have looked like the normalest person in the world either with my blue and purple paint splattered bandages and velvet red hair. I could tell people were staring at me when I wasn't paying any attention. I knew I wasn't the most normal person out there, so I didn't really care if they looked at me weird or not.

I finally got to my house after about half an hour of being in a crowded bus full of people I didn't know. After that I had to walk a little bit, but I didn't mind that much. It gave me some time to think about what I was going to say to him. When I got to my house, I realized it was just one huge mistake that I had made. I looked up at the house and some of the windows were shattered, including mine. I was a little bit worried, but after I sucked it all up, I went inside.

"Hello?" I said as I opened the door. "Dad?"

I heard a crashing noise coming from upstairs. I ran up the stairs and came face to face with none other than my dad. He was obviously drunk. Most definitely. And he was not a good drunk person.

"Hey there girly! I been looking for you." He said with a weird look in his eyes.

He stumbled towards me very drunkenly like. I ran past him and to my room and locked the door behind me. I didn't know exactly what else to do. So I just ran into my room. There was a huge red stain on the carpet by my broken window. It took me a few moments to realize that it was _my_ dried blood. Gross.

"Hey, come back here!" I heard my dad yell from down the hall.

"No! Stay right there!"

Right as I said that there was a pounding on the door. Then there was an even harder pounding. After that one it sounded like he was pounding on my door with a huge cinder block. Moments later there was the sound of splintering wood. More splintering wood. And then… a fist right through my door. I was scared, I didn't know what to do but hide underneath my bed. The hand reached down to the handle and unlocked the door. In came my father.

"Oh Kitty Cat, come out here." He coaxed

I almost, almost, _almost _fell for it, too. I think I was just lucky that I had Jade on speed dial.

"Hello?" I heard on my cell phone.

"Jade…" I wasn't able to finish my sentence.

"Cat? Cat, what's wrong!"

I watched as his feet made their way, stumbling, towards my bed. I could feel my heart beat even faster than it already was. One hand came down and shot towards me. Somehow he managed to grab me by my forearm. I was astounded at the fact that he could to this all while he was so drunk. I was tugged right out from underneath my bed, hitting my head in the process. I really doubt that he cared, though. I tried my hardest to get away from him, but I just couldn't, he was super strong. I almost dropped my phone, but I kept a pretty good grip on it.

"Please! Dad! I came to talk to you, make things better!" I shouted through tears as he shook me.

"You left me!" he yelled in my face. I could smell the booze in his breath.

He dragged me out of my room and to the stairs.

"You left me! Right after your mother and that brother of yours!"

"Cat!" I heard through my phone. "Cat! "I'm coming to get you, be careful?"

With each and every single step he took, he yelled another vulgar expletive straight into my face. I didn't like this side of my dad, I liked the side of him were I didn't get any attention from him. Now I feel like I'm getting _too much_ attention.

When he finally reached the stairs, he yelled another expletive in my face and shoved me down the stairs. I felt a burning in my abdomen as I hit each step. I should've listened to Jade, she was absolutely right about my dad. I should've listened to her. Images of the past couple of days flashed through my head. Me actually being happy, laughing.

I finally hit the bottom step and was, once again, in complete pain. I watched as my dad ran down the stairs, thinking for a second he was going to come down and say that he was sorry. Nope. He ran out the door and didn't look back.


	11. Chapter 11

**(AN As always, FreakierThanFreaks, I just absolutely LOVE reading the reviews you leave for me and this story. Thanks a bunch for your support!)**

Jade finally got to the house about fifteen minutes after my dad left. I was still balled up in pain by the stairs. Looking up at the twenty steps that I had fallen down, I thought:

_Well dang, it seemed like more than that…_

Jade rushed over to me and helped me up; I was shaking all over.

"Cat, listen to me really, really closely… What. Did. He. Do? Do I need to call the cops?"

I tried to say no, but I couldn't get the word straight out. I didn't want her to call the cops on him. I just wanted to get out of this God forsaken place once and for all. I never ever want to come back ever, ever again, for the rest of my life. Never even wanted to see my dad for the rest of my life, or his.

"No..." I finally mustered.

Jade looked at me like I was crazy or something. I don't blame her actually; it was kind of a crazy thing to do. Usually people would want someone like my dad to be sent to jail straight away. As soon as possible even. But I just want him to stay out of my life for good and completely ignore me, just like the good old days.

"Cat, are you sure?"

I nodded at her.

"Positive?"

I gave her another little nod. She leaned in and hugged me again. Pain shot through me when she did this. It hurt. Oh so very much. I didn't want to tell her this, though. I just wanted to be comforted by someone, even if it did bring me a little bit of pain. This is just what I needed. Someone that really knows me well enough to understand why I do certain things. Someone just like Jade. If only someone like that came in a boy version. I would kill for a guy like that. Do you think that there's anything like a Jade potion? I wish.

Jade helped me out to her blue mustang and drove me right back to her apartment building. I was pretty sure I wanted to stay there forever. That is, if Jade would let me. I'm pretty sure that she would, she sure seem like she did. Besides Jade wouldn't keep asking me unless she really, really wanted me to. I mean, up until a about a week ago I could've sworn that Jade couldn't stand me one bit. But apparently she did. I had always known that there was some sort of good in Jade.

"Jade?" I said half way through the car ride.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

There was some brief and very, very awkward silence. There seems to be a lot of that lately. I guess we just can't help that.

"For what?"

"For coming to help me even though I didn't listen to you…"

"It's fine." She told me "Just… please don't do it again. You have no idea how much that scared me. I mean, it must've been even scarier for you. I couldn't imagine going through something like that. You must've been _so _terrified. Knowing you, of course you were…"

She just went on and on. I blanked out after she started going on about how the devil should come swallow up my dad. But I did keep fazing in and out of the somewhat lecture. It wasn't really a lecture, just kind of a rant.

"…and people like that should just be locked up…"

I went on thinking. Thinking about stuff that has gone on in the past couple of days. I tried to think of the better things, like painting that room of Jade's. it was super duper fun. I couldn't help but let out a little smile about that.

"…and stuff like that could affect things in the future. And in a VERY bad way…."

I thought about how funny it was when Tori found me and Jade in the bathroom stall and how mad Jade got at her.

"…when it happens, everything could just go ahead and blow up…"

I thought about that day that I got punched in the eye by Amy Harris (who was not, thank God, related to André in any way) and how me and my friends laughed about it right afterwards.

"…people could just come and scoop it right up…"

I thought about the time I saw that happy little girl in the mall when me, Jade, and everyone else were at the mall. How I wished that I was that happy as a little girl.

"…and then it could get completely blown right out of proportion…"

And I especially though about the time I first died my hair. How scared I was about it. How I thought my parents would definitely not approve of it one little bit. How much I really wanted them to notice me for once. How they barely even looked my way. And just like that, my thoughts from bad to go in under a few seconds of thinking.

"…and then just like that, POOF, it's gone forever and ever…"


	12. Chapter 12

It's been a couple days (2 to be exact) since Jade saved me from my former house she keeps saying that I need to see a therapist for all of this, but I don't want to. It's just one of those things that make no sense to me. I mean, like, I know what's wrong with my, my dad hurt me. There's nothing psychological about it, I just have some screwed up life. That's all. I don't need some person that I don't even know to tell me that because I already know it. You know what I mean? Besides, shrinks are stupid. They remind me of stalkers. They should all just keep their nose in their own business and stay out of mine. Plus, they always try to hypnotize you, and if you've ever seen Donnie Darko, you know that that's a bad thing.

So now here I was in "my room" at Jade's apartment. Her oh so very, very dark apartment. And on top of all of that it was raining outside. Jade was in the living room watching something on MTV. The whole thing just fit my mood perfectly. I've been in somewhat of a funk lately, if you couldn't tell already.

"Hey, Cat, are you ok?" Jade asked me walking into the room without knocking.

"No, I'm just sitting in this dark depressing room with the lights off and hiding under the covers cause I'm just so happy and peppy right now."

Oh, ouch. I don't like this side of me. It was so nasty and just downright mean. I'm not good at being mean to people. I'm not like Jade. Oh, God! There it id again.

"Sorry… I didn't mean it." I said coming out from underneath the covers.

Jade walked out of the room and I reluctantly followed her into the living room. The door bell rang just as we sat down on the couch. As if I wasn't annoyed enough, now me and Jade had to deal with someone. Oh, Cat! Stop thinking that way! You love people! I love people.

"God, who could that possibly be!" Jade grunted

She opened the door and just guess who was there. Tori. I was somewhat disappointed when I saw her face in the doorway of Jade's apartment. I don't know who I was expecting exactly.

"Hey—"

As soon as Jade had opened the door, she slammed it. Smack! Right on Tori's face. I couldn't help but let out a little giggle. Jade definitely looked satisfied at her door slamming abilities.

"Jade!" I heard Tori yell from the opposite side of the door.

Tori banged on the door with force that I didn't know she had possessed. With every pound, I cringed. Scenes of Friday flashed through my poor, rattled brain. I don't like the noise of thumping against wood anymore. The "thump, thump, thump" is just so ghostly to me now. Images of splintering wood flew right through my head. In and out. Everything from Friday went in and out. I really just wanted Tori to stopping hitting the door like that. What did I have to do to make her stop?

Jade finally unwillingly walked to the door again and opened it to find a very, very unhappy Tori. She did not look happy. Not one little bit. I guess she didn't appreciate the door to her face. To be quite honest, I don't think I would either. It doesn't help very much that Jade and Tori didn't really enjoy each other's company. Yeah, no. That didn't help at all. If anything, it must've made it even worse.

"I want to talk to Cat!"

"Well maybe, just maybe, she doesn't wanna talk to you. Ever think of that?"

Tori looked somewhat offended at this. I don't blame her; I would be too. That is, if it were me being yelled at by Jade. But it wasn't. It was Tori. Not me.

"Maybe she does!"

I got up off the couch and walked over to where Jade and Tori were. Right by the open door. For a second, just one little second, I thought about making a dash for it. But that thought was quickly overruled by the completely blocked door way. Dang it. I guess now I'll just have to deal with my two bickering friends. What a joy. And yes, they were still arguing back and forth and back and forth. I swear, Jade was on the verge of slapping Tori right across the face. and Tori wanted to runaway, just like me. But she stood her ground. Did a good job of it, too. Heads were staring to poke out of the other apartments.

"Stop fighting!" I finally yelled at the both of them.

I grabbed both of them by the wrist and pulled them into Jade's apartment. They were starting to becoming quite a spectacle for the heads sticking out of the other rooms. I slammed the door when Tori and Jade were completely inside of the apartment.

"What could you possibly want with Cat?" Jade hissed in Tori's direction.

Jade was right, I really didn't want to talk to Tori. Sure she's kind and all. And sure, she's my friend, but everything in her life is just _so _perfect. She the nicest family, they almost never got mad at her. Her and Trina did stuff together, sometimes. She didn't even have to audition to get into Hollywood Arts, like the rest of us. Everything I could do, she could do a million times better. Boys practically threw themselves at her and she didn't even notice it.

Wow… Why is this all coming out now? It's so unlike me to be this angry toward someone. Well, I guess everything has really been ordinary lately…

**(AN I feel like I have to explain. You see, I believe that Cat has a lot of pent up anger toward Tori. In this chapter I really wanted that to show. Plus I just really don't like Tori all that much. Just one teenager's opinion)**


	13. Chapter 13

"So… Are you ok? I noticed you weren't in school on Friday and I was a little bit worried."

Really? I didn't notice. I was wondering why I wasn't in learning anything that day.

"Yeah. I'm just fine."

Jade and Tori finally got to the end of their argument after about 15 minutes. 15 minutes too long, if you ask me. It felt more like 15 hours or something of the sorts. The only reason they stopped fighting was because Jade left. Oh, Jade… They drove me crazy. I don't know what's been getting into me lately, but I've been acting so mean and sarcastic. I don't like it. I know I already said that, but I absolutely hat this feeling.

"Are you sure? Because, you know, if you need **anything** I'll always be there for you. If something happens with Jade, I'll help you."

I thought over this for a bit.

"Really?" I asked Tori, kind of sarcastically. "Because, lately it seems like Jade has been the most amazing friend I've ever had." I feel bad. That came out kind of snobbish.

I could tell that Tori was shocked at the way I was talking to her. I don't know why, but everyone sees me as this innocent, gullible little girl that didn't understand grown up situations. That wasn't the case at all.

"Cat… I… If you just told me what was going on, and don't say nothing!"

"You wanna know what's going on?" I yelled at Tori. It didn't feel right yelling at her.

Tori nodded kind of scared like. I didn't exactly know how to explain it, so I decided to just show her. As I tugged my shirt off my torso, I saw a look of shock flicker across Tori's face.

"C-Cat? What are you doing?" she asked as she examined my bandages.

I removed the bandages, all of them. Underneath of them were my cuts. The one's on my arms still looked fresh but the one across my stomach looked like it was healing pretty well. Bruises surrounded the cuts from when gripped me so tight, when I was practically dragged across the floor, when I was thrown down the stairs, and, of course, the one from Amy Harris.

"These," I said pointing to the three cuts angrily "Are from my dad. Yeah, he hurt me!"

I think I was at some sort of boiling point.

"You see all these bruises? He _threw me_ down a flight of stairs!"

Tori looked very sympathetic for me. I didn't know what to think, I was still fuming. I was huffing, I was so angry. The thing is, I don't even know why I was angry. But my shoulders were all hunched up and everything. Then Jade walked in with a pair of scissors in her hand. Lord knows what she's been doing with them. Probably cutting up another trash can. She looked at us the way Tori did that day she saw us in the bathroom stall. It was kind of funny actually, I tried to stifle a giggle, but I couldn't. Jade laughed too.

"Cat, what's going on?"

I was too embarrassed to talk so Tori started explaining to Jade what was happening. After the redness in my face went away, I asked Jade where she went.

"Oh, I just needed to clear my head. I've been walking around the lobby and outside for a bit."

"Where'd you get those scissors from?" Tori asked her with a hint of fright in her voice.

"Oh. I stole them from some sleeping hobo. I'm sure he won't miss them."

I laughed again. I couldn't help it, I was a giggler. A major giggler. Jade and Tori just kind of glared at me. Jade walked over, picked up my shirt, and gave it to me.

"Are you ok?" she whispered into my ear.

I shook my head at her and pulled my shirt over my body. My anger towards Tori was still running through me full speed ahead. I feel like a dam that had just burst from all the pressure from the water that it was holding. I'm surprised my eyes weren't being like dams. Usually I would have rivers running down each cheek by now. I guess all the anger suppressed the tears.

"Tori, I think it's time you left." Jade said, motioning for the door.

Tori looked hurt, as if she didn't see this coming. Things must've been so out of the ordinary for her today, especially in the last half hour. She slowly got off the couch and walked towards the door. She stole one more glance at the each of us and left the apartment. Jade lightly slammed the door behind Tori. She was definitely happy that she was out of her home. Like I said, they was never a friendly air between them.

**(Thank you all so much for the reviews. I just absolutely love reading them. Even if there's only a couple. I always feel nice and bubbly after I read them xD)**


	14. Chapter 14

School today… Yay… I don't know what to expect yet; I don't know what Tori will do. Will she try to avoid me? Will she confront me? I really just don't want to see her, so I hope she'll ignore me. I can handle getting ignored, I've spent almost my whole life being ignored by three people that were kind of a major benefactor to my life. What's one more?

Me and Jade were in the middle of getting ready for school when my phone rang. It was… my dad.

"J-Jade!" I almost shouted and dropped my phone. "M-my dad. He's calling me!"

"Don't answer it. Give it to me."

I ran back to where I dropped my phone and snatched it up. It was still ringing when I handed it to Jade.

"Hello?" she said into my phone as she answered.

I stood there with my mouth open. Why would she answer it? We're going to be late for school. She was confusing me so much, I didn't know what to do. I was scared. Wait a second… why am I scared? He's on the phone, nowhere near me. He can't even see me, let alone touch me. I had nothing to worry about.

"No, she's not interested in talking to you… I don't care if it's "urgent"… So…Does it sound like I care?… Listen, you have a lot of nerve calling this number... Why? You wanna know _why?_... Do you not remember a thing about Friday?... Wow. You. Are. Stupid… You know what! Goodbye!... You don't deserve a daughter like Cat! She's way too good for the likes of you!" she jammed the end button really hard. I thought that she would definitely break my phone.

"How did it go?" I asked Jade.

"It went rather well." She said with a triumphant voice.

There was a couple of minutes of silence. I don't like quietness that much. Not at all.

"Did you mean that?"

Jade looked at me as if she was confused or something.

"Mean what?"

"What you said to my dad. That I was way too good for him."

She nodded at me with a little hint of a smile. I liked seeing Jade smile; she had a very pretty smile. Me and Beck seemed to be the only people who could get Jade to laugh or smile. It made me feel kind of special, because Beck was one of Jade's most favorite people. I think he actually is her favorite person. To be up there with him is a big deal. I don't think I've ever really had a special place in somebody's life like I do with Jade.

Later that day, at school, I was encountered by none other than miss Tori Vega. I was walking in the hall way, when all of a sudden I was grabbed by my forearm. I was really scared; I thought my dad had come to attack me or something. But it wasn't. Tori dragged me into the nearest janitor's close.

"Are you mad at me or something?"

I didn't know what to say. Of course I was mad at her, but should I just come out and say it. I was usually a pretty honest person.

"Just—"

"Why?" she cut me off.

Tori was one of those crazy perfectionist people. If one person isn't pleased with her, she has to figure out what she's doing wrong and fix it.

"Well… you see…"

"Spit it out Cat!"

I was a little bit offended at her yelling at me so much.

"Well, you always get everything you want. It's not natural… And you see, you just have the perfect life."

She was so obviously confused. I literally had to sit there for an hour and explain to her why I was mad at her. Somewhere in the middle of explaining, I realized that I wasn't mad at her, I was… jealous. I was completely and utterly jealous of Tori. She has everything that I've always wanted. The perfect family, amazing talent, guys who crush on her all the time. I was completely jealous. I wanted her life. Like, I would do anything to be her. It was a weird feeling.

Before Tori came to Hollywood Arts, me and Jade were one of the ones that were on top. We were a team. We worked together and then Tori came along and just completely tore that down. Now, somehow she was better than we were. I mad at her for ruining our reputation as the Talented Ones. And then when we tried to be friends with her, she kind of treated us like we were some sort of foreign, unknown objects.

Oh, and on top of all of that, sometimes she treats me like I'm stupid or something. But everyone was like that, so it didn't really matter that much.

After my explanation, Tori just walked out of the closet, looking very disappointed. I don't blame her. I was kind of harsh on her.


	15. Chapter 15

Tori tried avoided me for the rest of the day. She succeeded. Technically, it was her fault; if she hadn't asked me anything, then she wouldn't have had to face the ugly truth. Sure, I feel terrible for the way I talked to her, but it was all true. I actually had to go digging for all of that to come out. Imagine how much it hurts to find out all these things about someone who you thought were your friend. It hurt a lot. And not in some physical way, but in a way that hurts a lot more.

Sure, she did not deserve me yelling at her, but deep down inside… I guess had too much anger built up. Now imagine have sixteen years worth of anger and loneliness piling up inside of you. I feel kind of stupid letting it all out on Tori. Maybe if it were some stranger I wouldn't feel as bad, because then there would be a lesser chance of me ever seeing them again. My days of sarcasm and bitterness are over. Even though it _was_ only about three days of sarcasm and bitterness.

I stayed home from school the day after my explosion. I'm sure that no one would even notice I was missing. Maybe Tori would. I have to think _somewhat _positive, don't I? If anyone was going to notice, it would be her. Wouldn't it?

_Ring, ring, ring!_

Well dang, I must be a psychic. My cell was ringing and guess who was calling… if you guessed Tori Vega, you were right. Aww, you guys are so smart.

"Hi." I said to Tori as I answered the phone.

"Hey there."

"I was just thinking about you."

"What?"

"I mean, I was thinking about yesterday…"

There was silence on the other end. I checked the screen of my phone to make sure I didn't lose her.

"I was too…"

"I wanted to say I was sorry."

Another silence…

"I'm coming over, is Jade there?"

Jade went to school. She wanted to stay with me but I kept telling her that she didn't have to. Eventually after almost 15 minutes of convincing, she did.

"No."

"Thank heavens."

I decided to clean up a little bit before Tori came over. It was a smidge bit messy due to a little mini-party me and Jade had the night before. To cheer me up, she played music really loudly, set up a snack table, and set up some party lights. It was just us and was surprisingly fun. Really, it was. At first I thought it would be boring, because it was just us and all, but then I started having a lot o fun.

About half an hour later, someone came knocking on Jade's door. It was Tori. Does this mean that she's missing school for me? Oooh, Tori's a skipper!

"Hey hey." I said and invited her in.

"Hi!"

She came inside almost immediately. I motioned for her to sit on the couch and she did.

"So… um… yesterday…" I said kind of embarrassed.

"Yeah, don't worry about it. I'll get over it."

_I'll get over it_… Did that mean she wasn't over it yet? God, I don't want her to be mad I me or anything. I hate it when people get mad at me; it's so unnatural to me.

"But still, I'm really sorry. I don't know what got over me." Yes I do "I shouldn't have yelled at you like that…"

Tori looked down at her lap.

"You didn't yell. It was more of a loud, stern voice."

I let out a little giggle. Tori did the same thing and, soon enough, we were both laughing together.

"Yeah, right." I said when we settled down.

I still feel really bad for getting so mad at her. I feel guilty because I was mad over jealousy. I've never had a reason to be jealous of anyone besides my brother.

"Cat… did your dad really do all those things to you?"

I hesitated a little bit. I have found out that I don't exactly like to talk about it that much. Who would?

"Yeah…"

"Cat, I'm so sor—"

"No, don't be. It's not your fault."

Well dang. Now I have to feel bad about cutting her off like that.

"Well… still, no one should have to go through something like that."

She was right. No one should have to go through this.

"Well… I guess so. But—"

Tori put her hand up, wanting me to be quiet. She had this really serious look on her face. I didn't know what she was going to say, but I had a feeling it was not going to be a very good thing.

"Cat… You're dad called me yesterday…"


	16. Chapter 16

_"Cat… You're dad called me yesterday…"_

HE CALLED HER! I didn't know what to do, how to respond to that.

"Cat? Are you ok? I didn't know it was him. I didn't even know that he knew what my number was. But it was him. I've never even met him! And… Oh Cat, I'm so sorry!"

"What did you tell him?" I said in the most dead serious tone.

I wasn't mad at Tori, it's not her fault. But that could quickly change.

"I… I told him that," she hesitated "I told him…"

"What, Tori! What did you tell him?"

I grabbed her by each shoulder, forcing her to turn towards me. She tried to avoid meeting my eyes.

"I told him that you were staying here." She said as quickly as possible.

I shot of the couch, letting go of her shoulders.

"Why? Why would you tell him that? What could've possibly possessed you to tell him that I was staying here?"

I rushed over to the door and locked it with trembling hands. He was coming. I could feel it. What would I do if he showed up? I'm too little to be able to fight him back; he would pound me to a little pulp. And that would hurt. Like, hurt more than I already do, and that's a lot.

"Cat… I'm sorry!"

"Why, Tori? Why?"

I was in a pile on the floor. Literally, a pile. I was too scared to get up and was almost certain things weren't going to end well. At all. Not one bit. I was definitely in the middle of a mental breakdown right now.

"I'm sorry!"

I started pacing around the living room. What was I supposed to do? I could runaway again, but what would that do exactly. He would most likely just find me again and drag me home. Why Tori tell him where I was. She probably didn't mean to do it. It probably just slipped out over the phone. Tori had somewhat of a big mouth when she was talking.

There was a banging at the door maybe half an hour later. I was almost positive that it was my dad, but I could never be sure. Even if it was, there was no way in the world he could bang his way through the metal door like he did with the wood one. I got up out of my little pile and walked over to the door. The peep hole was a few inches over my head so I had to get on my tippy toes.

Black… that was the first thing I saw. Black hair. Then black clothes. It was Jade. It had to be. No one else in LA wore that much black when it was almost summer. That crazy girl. I unlocked the door and let the black wonder inside her apartment.

"Hey, are you ok?"

How could she already know? I looked over towards Tori, she seemed a little bit diffident and somewhat timid. She must've talked to her about it.

"Tori told me what she did." Jade told me.

Tori's head shot up and she glared at Jade. it was true though, she did do something really bad, even if she didn't mean to do it, she did it. It was over with; surely my dad has intentions of killing me. I think. I could be acting a little bit dramatic. I really don't know anymore. At this point, anything could possibly happen. Even the most outrageous things could happen. Maybe, a pony would come and save me. But that was highly unlikely. How would a pony know where I was if I didn't tell it? Oh well…

"So are you skipping too?" I asked Jade.

She nodded at me.

"Yeah, you're more important than school right now."

Well, don't I feel special. Jade is such a good friend to me. She always has been. Don't get me wrong, Tori is too but… I don't know, sometimes there's just this thing about her that I'm not a big fan of.

About 15 minutes of explaining from Tori later, there was a loud banging on the door. As soon as I heard it, I ran away into my room. I knew it had to be my dad this time. Who else could it possibly be? No one! That's who. I scurried into the room and jump underneath the bed.

There was more pounding on the door. Jade walked into the room I was hiding in. she had a little teeny tiny smile on her face. It was the kind that she had when she thinks that she has some sort of brilliant idea hatched.

"I have a plan."


	17. Chapter 17

So here was the plan: Tori was going to answer the door. That was it. She already said that she never met my dad, all she had to do was change the sound of her voice a little bit and then… BAM! She would be… Vori Tega! Or something like that. I guess the name doesn't really matter right now; she can come up with that when the time comes. She was smart enough to figure something out.

"All you have to do is stay under here. Just like you are now." Jade told me. I was still underneath the bed, hiding from my not so father.

"That's it? that's your brilliant plan?" I asked her kind of skeptical.

"Yeah, what's wrong with it?" she replied with an attitude

I thought about. There were _so many _things wrong with this idea that I didn't even know where to start. I guess I could start with the fact that it's pretty obvious that this is Jade's apartment. Who else has so much black in one housing area? Again, no one! There were so many other things that could possibly go wrong. And for one, Tori _already_ told him where I was, so he must obviously know that we would be lying.

"Well for one thing, he knows who you are… so what are you going to do?"

"Well, I guess I'll have to crawl up under there with you."

And so she did. She ducked down into the small space underneath the queen sized bed with me.

"Hello," I heard Tori say in some fake Russian accent that she was terrible at. "How are you?"

"Fine..." That was my dad, I was positive that it was "Is there a Cat here?"

"Well, there was last week." Tori replied somewhat glumly.

God, Tori! You are terrible at this secretive stuff.

"Well? Where did she go?"

"She died…"

Great! Thanks Tori. Really, thanks a lot; I really appreciate it. Now she's killing me off? What a great friend she is! I just love dying for no reason at all. Who kills off their friend like that? No one!

My dad continued talking. The sound of his voice pierced me like nails. That reminded me of the broken bottle that had impaled my abdomen just a couple of days ago.

"My God! How?"

"Yep, my poor little cat got ran over by a car…"

There was a little bit of a silence. I couldn't tell what was going on, but I did understand that Tori wasn't killing me off. She's saying that she has a pet cat. Or well, she _had _a pet cat. Now I get it. Whew, I thought Tori didn't like me anymore and she wanted me dead. Thank heavens she didn't.

"You're lying to me girl."

My heart beat went a little bit faster. Dang Tori can't act; and she's somehow a better actress then me and Jade? How could that possibly be? She is a terrible actress. Absolutely terrible. I have to stop talking (or thinking) about her this way. She _was_ my friend, no matter how badly she screwed up.

"Um… Um… I'm not… _lying_." Tori stuttered with every word.

"Hey!" it was Tori…

I heard a thump. What was going on? Jade reached over and put a hand on my shoulder. She knew I wanted to go out there. I wanted to see what was going on, but she would not let me go. Nope. I finally had to wriggle my way out of her strong grip. How did that chic get so strong?

"Jade," I whispered "We have to go see what's going on."

"No, Tori said 'No matter what, don't come out here.'"

"Well I don't care what Tori said, now do I?"

I crawled out from underneath the bed and walked over to the door. I paused for a second to look at the aurora that was painted on the walls. You know, really take in my surroundings before I turn myself over to the bad guy. It might be the last time I'll ever see this room again. There I go again, being all dramatic like always. I won't dye, I really doubt it. I _can't_ dye, it's impossible. I way too young to dye.

"Cat…"

I turned around and Jade was right behind me. She had this pleading look in her eyes. I didn't want to see her like this; it was so weird to see Jade have feelings towards someone (or something) besides Beck.

There was the sound of someone walking towards the room we were in. I didn't know if it was Tori or my dad. Most likely it would be my dad. I would be surprised if it wasn't. maybe this time I wold be lucky and he wouldn't be drunk. But in my world, there is no such luck…

"Oh Kitty Cat…"


	18. Chapter 18

"_Oh Kitty Cat…"_

The door knob turned slightly. I knew what was coming next. An image of my dad walking into the room flashed through my head. I quickly rushed over to the closet and hid in it. I left the door open a crack so I could what he was up to. I saw him looking around the room. He was pacing a little bit, but he finally stopped and it seemed like he was staring straight at me.

"Oh Kitty Cat, I know you're in here. I just wanna talk to you."

I accidently stepped on something that made a noise. I couldn't see what it was, but it definitely made a noticeable noise. Other than that, I heard some mumbling coming from underneath the bed. Probably Jade. I wonder what she's doing down there.

Dad walked towards me. Or, well, the closet. He went on talking. He was getting really convincing too.

"Cat, I know I haven't been the most amazing father to you… is there any possible way you could forgive me. I want to make things better."

I slowly stepped out of the closet. I didn't want to look him in the eyes so I just looked at the ground and at my feet. The black shag carpet tickled in between my toes. As much as I rid to distract myself, I couldn't.

"R-really?"

My dad lifted my chin up slightly so I could meet his eyes. He cupped my face with his huge man hands that had hurt me many times before. He had this really sincere look in those dark brown eyes of his. I think he might actually be telling the truth. But then again…

"Nope."

He tightened his grip on my face and threw me to the ground. I hit he bed post and saw Jade underneath of the bed on her cell phone.

"Stop it!" Jade came out from underneath the bed. I almost forgot that she was under there.

She came over to where me and my dad were. Dad was kicking me with great force. Soon enough, I was being pulled from the ground by Jade mid-kick.

"I already called the police." She whispered ever so quietly into my ear.

I nodded.

"What was that, Jadey?" Dad asked Jade. "What did you say?"

"I said you're a gank!"

Oh that Jade. Wait a second! Tori! I ran over to the door; my dad was right behind me. Jade tried to stop him by grabbing his shoulders. It didn't work out to well. He lashed around and slapped/punched her across the face. I couldn't tell which one he did. I'm pretty sure that it was a punch though. Poor Jade, she's going through so much just to help me out.

"Tori!" I yelled

Tori was on the ground by the couch. I couldn't tell if she was breathing from where I was, but she definitely looked unconscious. I rushed over to her and tried shaking her limp body. Nothing. I checed her pulse. There was a slight heart beat in her neck vein. There was a noise coming from behind us.

Jade was still trying to fight my dad off. Even though she didn't exactly look it, she was really strong. I ran over to help her, even though I doubt I was that much of a help. Sirens were coming from outside. The police. It had to be the police. What other car made that kind of noise? None. We just had to hold him back long enough for the cops to come up.

My dad was a really super strong man. If he could use his powers for good, I'm sure he could be a super hero. But that was highly unlikely, considering how he was acting so far. Yeah, he would make an amazing villain. Like the Joker or something. He was a pretty cool villain.

Me and Jade were thrown against walls, chairs, and the occasional Tori. Yet we didn't give up at all. If we were in any other situation, I'm sure that we would have let him get away. But since the cops were oh so very close, we had to keep him in this apartment. It was a necessity. This evil man _had_ to get arrested. I was sick of him by now. Scratch that, I've been sick of him my _whole life_.

"Come on Kitty Cat, why won't you come home with me?" he said.

There was a hand gripped around my arm very tightly. Another hand attached itself to my other arm. Sooner than I expected, I was thrown very roughly against Jade's refrigerator.

I hit my head on the door handle, fell to the linoleum kitchen floor, and blacked out. The last thing I remember seeing was a bunch of cute guys barging through the front door.


	19. Chapter 19

I woke up in a hospital room. To my right was a wall. To my left was another bed with someone in it. I tried to get out of the bed that I was in, but there was something like a gate or something. The thing kind of reminded me of the things that you put on the side of the top bunk of bunk beds. It took me a couple of minutes to figure out how to get it down. When I finally did, it was a breeze getting out of the bed.

I slowly tip-toed over to the other white bed. When I finally got over there, I saw the covers were pulled over the body. Isn't that what they do when someone died in the hospital? Oh God! I slowly reached over and tapped the body with my index finger.

There was a slight groaning noise…

"Leave me alone. I'm trying to sleep over here!"

Oh! That was Tori's voice! Yay! She wasn't dead! That excited me just a little bit. Ok, ok, a lot a bit. I don't know what I would do if Tori died at my expense. I would feel absolutely terrible about myself.

"Tori…" I said, poking her again. "Are you ok under there?"

She quickly pulled the covers down to show her slightly messed up hair and majorly messed up makeup.

"Hey, Cat. I'm fine. What about you?"

I nodded a little bit and pulled a chair next to her bed. There were a few minutes of awkward silence before we heard someone knocking on the hospital room door. The person slowly opened the door and put a black combat boot through the door. It was Beck. But where was Jade? Jade…

"Hey there you two." Beck said in a somewhat cheery voice. There was a weird tone to that "cheery" voice though. Very un-Beck like.

"Where's Jade?" I asked as I saw André walk in behind Beck.

"They're running some sort of test on her." André told me.

The two boys grabbed some more chairs and pulled them up next to Tori's bed with me.

"Hey, Lil' Red, why aren't you in your bed?"

I told them what happened while they weren't in the room. They were pretty understanding of why I wasn't in my bed when they came in.

"What kind of test are they running on Jade?" Tori asked them.

Our two friends shrugged their shoulders.

"Probably checking her blood type or something."

There was another few minutes of silence. We all exchanged awkward glances during these few minutes.

"My dad…" I said as I walked back over to my white hospital bed.

André looked towards me with a concerned look on his face. A dread slowly fell in front of his face when he turned his head. He brushed it back before he started to explain.

"The cops had to give him some sort of tranquillizer. Don't worry, he's far behind bars right now." He told me.

André reached his hand over and laid it on mine. He was just as good a friend as Jade is. Which is a very, very good thing. He hasn't been with me as long as Jade has, but it felt like he has been.

"What happened with Jade exactly that she needed a test."

Beck and André looked at each other. It looked like they were having some sort of conversation with their eyes.

"Your dad… um… stabbed her." André said.

He looked towards Beck and he picked up where André left off. I felt a strange tugging feeling in my stomach.

"She lost a lot of blood; they needed to see what her blood type was…"

I covered my mouth with my hands. There was no way in this world that that is true. I refuse to believe that.

"Is she ok?" Tori asked.

"Yeah, but they say she might need a kidney transplant." Beck explained to her.

Oh God. That's not a very good thing. Not at all. I couldn't believe that my dad did that to my best friend. And it's all my fault.

André told me and Tori that they had called Jade's parents.

"They didn't even care! Not an ounce of sympathy for _their own daughter_! Can you believe that?" Beck said, dumbfounded. I don't blame him for being so angry about it all.

"Jade's parents aren't too big fans of her…" I said looking down.

It was the sad reality of her life. I'm not the only one who had a screwed up family, you know. She has it pretty bad, but she always says that I have it worst.

A blonde nurse in blue scrubs crept up behind us. Sneaky one right here.

"Hi. Um, well Ms. West will definitely need a new kidney but she'll have to be put on the end of the waiting list…"

We all looked at each other, doing that "eye conversation" thing hat André and Beck were doing earlier. We all wanted to help Jade (even Tori) in any way that we could. Even if it meant giving up an organ for her.

"Is there any possibility that we could get tested?" Tori asked the nurse lady.

She nodded.

"I guess so, are you sure though. This kind of stuff includes a very, _very_ big commitment."

"We can handle it." I said for all of us.

"Well then, who wants to go first?"


	20. Chapter 20

**(AN I know that they are too young to donate organs like that, but just bare with me here)**

The next day the results came in. Me and Beck were the only two who had the same blood type as Jade. We didn't exactly know how to settle this. Beck's kidney was just as good as mine. But then, the nurse came up to us to tell us some shocking news. Shocking to me at least.

"Mr. Oliver," The nurse said, looking at her blue see through clipboard. "You've already donated a kidney… you _need_ that other one."

"I did?"

Beck didn't know that he donated an organ? How could that be possible? You'd think that if you donated something like that, you would remember about it.

"Yes, back in 2008? You gave it to your grandfather. Remember?"

Beck looked a little bit puzzled for a few moments, but then I saw the light bulb go off in his head.

"Oh, yeah! Has it been _that_ long already?" he said and ran a hand through his hair.

"Beck, how come you've never told me that?" I asked him.

"I guess it slipped my mind." He chuckled. Oh Beck…

I looked at Beck with a little bit of a confused look. This was not a time for joking around. I don't understand how he was so calm about all of this. His girlfriend is in desperate need of a new kidney, and he's over here laughing his head off. Poor confused Beck.

"Well, I guess I'll be giving Jade some of my body."

Beck and the blonde nurse gave me a funny look. Don't look at me that way, you should be looking at Beck! He's the one who forgot that he already gave away his kidney!

"Is later today ok with you?

"Sure, why not?"

"Can we see her now?" Beck asked.

"Sure, follow me."

We followed the nurse, whose name turned out to be Gina, into a brightly lit room. It was just like all the other hospital rooms, white. Jade won't be liking this too much. Nope. Jade was sitting in the hospital bed and was covered in blankets. She was wearing the same kind of hospital robe that I was. When she saw me and Beck, a little smile crossed her face.

Poor Jade. She looked really, really pale. Like, paler than usual. She looked really fragile, too. As if you could touch and she would just fall to itty bitty pieces. I guess that's what happens when you lose a lot of blood.

"Hey, Jade." Beck said and walked over to Jade. He kissed her on her pale forehead.

"Hi." I said, still standing in the doorway.

"Come in. I won't bite."

She was acting so smooth about this all. I thought for sure that she would hate me after what my dad did to her. Maybe she wasn't mad at me. But I don't see how that's possible. I just… felt so bad seeing her hooked up to that stupid beepy machine. That machine that I didn't understand in the first place. But know, seeing Jade hooked up to it, I had this whole entire new found respect for it. It's telling me that my bestest friend in the whole wide world was still alive. As if the beeping noise was pulling us back into reality.

"Are you feeling any better?" I asked her, walking in.

"Yeah, much. They gave me some cookies, like they do when you donate blood."

Woah. That was not like Jade to get excited over cookies like that. That was more me like.

"But I asked them if I could keep the blood… they said no…"

There we go. There was the Jade we all knew and love. Whew, I thought I was losing her for a second there.

Beck reached down and grabbed her hand. I could tell that he never wanted to let go of her. It was the way they were looking at each other that gave it away. But they always had that look for each other. It was so cool to watch their little relationship grow before my eyes.

"So guess what Cat's going to do for you."

"Mmm. Is she going to bring me some coffee with 2 sugars?"

"Well, no… and I thought that was my job."

"It is. But then what is she doing for me?"

"She's gonna give you a kidney. Isn't that exciting?"

Jade looked at me with this very, very, very shocked look on her face. I'm not sur if she was happy, scared, or just dumbfounded. I just hope she wasn't mad at me.

"Cat… That's… amazing. I don't think I know how to thank you for something like this!"

We stayed in the room with Jade for a couple more hours until Gina came back into the room.

"Ms. Valentine, we're prepping for your surgery, are you ready?"

I nodded my head and Gina took me away.


	21. Chapter 21

"Does it matter if she's taller than me?"

That was the last thing I remember saying before they put me under. Something called anesthesia. Or was it anastasia? I don't know, one of those things. Whichever one it was, it made me feel very loopy in the head area. All I know is that now there is a second scar on my poor tummy. The one from my dad and the one that I got just a couple hours ago from the surgery. Oh, my poor little tummy.

They wheeled my little hospital bed into a room with another bed. I could only guess that it was Jade because Beck was sitting by that white bed. I don't think Beck would sit next to some stranger. So, yeah it had to be Jade. If it wasn't than Beck has finally lost his mind like the rest of us.

Beck got up from his chair and walked over to me. He sat down in one of the chairs nearest my bed and whispered into my ear.

"Thank you."

Jade was moving around in her little bed. We both looked toward her and went over.

"Hey hey!" I said when she looked at me.

Jade's eyes were kind of squinted. She reached a hand out and touched my face. I didn't know what she was doing, so I was kind of scared. Beck looked at me and Jade and decided to sit down. It must've been somewhat weird for him; he was all out of the loop and whatnot.

"Thanks Cat…" Jade said kind of lazily

"I'm sorry…"

Jade eyes opened to their full extent.

"Why are you so sorry?" she asked me.

It took a minute or two to get all my thoughts together.

"Well… This is all my fault. I could probably trace this back to years ago. If I didn't dye my h—"

"Don't say that. It's _not _your fault. Just some dude's named Mr. Valentine. It's his fault. And you have nothing to do with him anymore."

I laughed at Jade's logical thinking. As much as I didn't understand it, I'm glad that she said it. It's nice to know that she doesn't blame me for any of this junk. Even though, deep inside, I know that all this junk is my fault. I'll let her believe what she wants.

The door opened and Tori walked in wearing normal clothes. As opposed to a hospital gown, that is. They must have let her out the day before and we just didn't know. I was wondering where she was. As in she wasn't n the room where I left her in. Which was the room that we were in the first day. Am I loosing you at all?

"Hey guys. Cat, how'd the surgery go?"

I gave her two peppy thumbs up and tried to look as perky as possible. As if nothing had ever happened. But our scars say otherwise. And so do those people on the outside. The ones on the outside will _never_ understand what has happened in the past couple of days. No matter how hard we tried to explain. Well, why would be any of their business any way?

"Hello?" Gina was at the door. "You guys are free to go, but I really suggest a lot of bed rest. Stay home from school for a little bit. I suggest going back next Monday. It will give four days of rest, and that should be good enough."

So that was it. That's the end of our hospital adventures. Beck drove us all back to Jade's apartment building and that was it. Well, it's not exactly _the end._ When we got up to the apartment, there was somewhat of a surprise.

There were a bunch of random people in grey jumpsuits tearing up the carpet. Other people were painting over the walls with _white _paint. Oh no! That put Jade over the moon.

"Dude! What are you doing to my apartment!"

Some man in a business suit came up behind us.

"Ms. West, we found out your little secret…"

It must've been the manager or something..

"Oh yeah, what secret?"

There was a little stare down between Jade and MR. Manager. If I were the manager, I would probably recoil into a little ball and then probably runaway.

"You, Ms. West, are not really 18. Are you?"

Another little stare down. Jade had to lie about her age? How could she even do that?

"So what?" Jade said somewhat in a snarky tone.

"We are kicking you out of this apartment…"


	22. Chapter 22

So, Jade got kicked out of her apartment. But, at least I was able to talk them out of painting over the walls with the aurora on it. That was way too pretty to paint over. It took a lot of convincing, but I succeeded. Did you notice that they didn't even have any sympathy for us; we just got out of a major surgery! I can only What jerks. I don't understand people like that, I could only imagine what Jade was thinking. Or feeling.

She slammed the apartment door shut ad marched toward the grey elevator. When I finally caught up with her, I was almost completely out of breath; it's a long walk from her used-to-be apartment to the elevator. She was super angry, you can't even imagine. I could never imagine. I wonder what's it's like to be as mad as she always is. It must take a lot of work and getting used to be like that. I wonder how much energy she uses up to be that angry.

"Jade! Jade, hold on a second!"

"What, Cat! What could you possibly want!" Jade yelled in that sharp voice that she does so well.

I had to come up with something. And quick. Think Cat! Think! You can think up the randomest things all day, but when you actually need to focus on something you draw this huge blank!

"My dad's arrested!"

"_Good for you!" _She yelled. I sensed a hint of sarcasm in it.

I obviously had to elaborate on this a little bit. Just a little bit.

"No, Jade, you don't get it, we can go to _my_ house."

Jade seemed to calm down just a little bit. Her face was a shade of red from all the anger that was being built up. Letting all that steam out at once cannot be healthy. I don't see how it possibly could. Bu other than that, I think she was starting to catch on to what I was saying.

"Cat… are you sure you're ok with that. I mean, I thought you would never want to go back to that place."

I thought it over for a little bit. It's true; the place does hold very many bad memories. But then again, the only reasons they were bad was because I was alone. Sure, there were people there and all, but not very friendly people. Ok, I'll admit, that's a pretty bad thing to say about your family; but it is so true. You know what they did to me! Or, should I say, what my dad did to me and what my mom and brother didn't…

"I'm fine with it; we could paint over those boring old white walls!"

Jade looked at me kind of funny.

"But your walls are all pink, aren't they?"

"Well, yeah… But not the whole house is. The rest of the walls are all boring and brown! We could paint them the way we did with the walls in you ex-apartment!"

Jade let out one of those rare giggles. Not that one that she gives when she's planning something devious, but one that actually held some joy…

"All of them?"

"We can do whatever you want. It could be like a little buddy project!"

I'm just glad that Jade had finally settled down long enough for me to throw in some ideas. It was basically just some rambling about flowers and butterflies coming out of my mouth. I know I must have been irritating her, but oddly enough she didn't show it. In fact, she actually seemed like she was listening to me.

I liked having people listening to me. It left a sweet feeling in my whole entire body. If you couldn't guess already, not a lot of people like to listen to me that often. Especially not any of the adults, with the exception of Sikowitz. They didn't even bother to try to figure out what I'm saying.

I don't know why exactly, but the memory of when we first met popped into my head. I remember it so vividly, almost as if it just happened yesterday. It's probably one of my favorite memories of all time. It was my very first happy memory. I just love thinking about it.


	23. Chapter 23

(12 years ago at the age of 4)

It was the end of summer, and I was finally going to start my very first day of school. It would be my first time ever going to school. Yep, you guessed it, I'm in kindergarten! I was so excited, and couldn't wait to make a bunch of new friends. I liked making friends. A lot. It was one of the many things that brought me happiness.

My daddy dropped me off in front of the school at 7:00 am; I thought it was a little early, but oh well. I didn't care that much. I waved goodbye to Daddy as I jumped out of the car, he must not have seen me wave goodbye, because he didn't wave back. I didn't mind that much; he was always either in a rush or busy, so I learned to get used to it.

I looked around and saw another car pull up. It was big, black, and shiny. Very, very shiny. I watched as one of the shiny black doors opened up. Out came another girl around my age, she was wearing a lot of black for one girl.

"No Mom! I don't want that! It's embarrassing!" I heard her yell at the top of her lungs.

She had a really tough voice. If her words were punches, I would be covered in bruises. So would the person in that big car. I would have coiled up into a little ball if I was standing right next to her, which thankfully I wasn't. I was probably a good 50 feet away from her.

"Please, Jadey," a lady voice begged the little girl. "You _need_ a book bag to carry all of your stuff!"

A pink book bag flew out of the car. The girl watched as it hit the ground. She slammed the car door and stormed away, leaving the bag behind. The car drove away really quickly. The girl was in a really bad mood. Maybe she wasn't a morning person.

As the girl approached me, I was able to get a better look at her. She had brown hair, like mine but a little bit lighter. She also had some pretty blue streaks here and there. I liked her hair. I don't think I'll ever have the guts to dye mine like that. I don't think my parents would really appreciate it… She was also super duper pale

The girl shoved passed me and walked on.

"Hi!" I said and followed her.

She turned around to look at me. She was kind of intimidating if you looked at her long enough. By now, I was definitely scared. I would have peed my pants if I wasn't too old for it. She glared at me with her menacing blue eyes. She seemed as if she had so much confidence and pride just by the way she was standing. I was absolutely amazed by her.

"I'm Caterina… Caterina Valentine."

"Caterina? That's a funny name." she said with that tough voice of hers "I'm Jade. Where did your family come up with a name like _Caterina?"_

I told Jade about my grandmother. I told her that _her_ name was Caterina. My parents liked the name and they gave it to me. I was shocked at how much she was listening to me. Any other person would've walked away from me the moment I said "hi"

"But… I don't really like my name that much. I get picked on by the older boys in my neighborhood because of it."

Jade looked at me for a couple minutes. Really taking the time to completely look me over.

"Why don't you change it? Maybe shorten it."

I never really had thought about changing my name. let alone shorten it.

"What would I change it too?"

"Well, you would change it to Cat, silly!"

I would never have pegged her to be the type of person to say the word silly. She didn't seem like that type of person. Not at all.

As the day went on, we discovered that we had the same class. I don't know about Jade, but I was pretty excited about it. Also, as the day went on, I discovered that Jade was one of the very, very, _very_ few people who understood me. Like, she actually listened to me. I wasn't used to people like that.

As the school day came to an end, I discovered that I had really like Jade. I hoped that I would know her for the rest of my life. She was so enticing and edgy and just full of spunk. She wasn't afraid to yell at the teacher for getting angry with me. She also wasn't afraid to throw a book at him. She _also _wasn't afraid to walk all the way down to the principles office all alone.


	24. Chapter 24

After my little flashback ended, we went to my house! YAY! Jade finally gets to live with me. Plus, _plus _we get to redecorate the whole entire house.

"I think we should start with the carpets, because they were all blood stained and all. Then, while we were doing the carpets _then _we can do our walls.Ooh! I liked the way that sounded. _Our___walls. Then we can throw parties and invite some cute boys over. Of course Beck can come too, for you. The rest of the gang can come over if they wanted to, too. But we'll have to fix those broken windows first. And then—"

Jade put up a hand to make me be quiet. I guess I was getting on her nerves again. Oopsies. I think it started when I said blood. Maybe she didn't like the idea of me bringing back bad memories like that. Can I help it if I'm just a teensy bit excited? My best friend is coming to live with me! Now wouldn't you be excited if you could spend 24/7 with _your_ best friend? I think so.

"We're here!" I squealed, obviously annoying Jade.

I don't think I've ever been so excited to see my own house. Sure, there well be _some _bad memories flowing through the place, but I'll get over it. I hope Jade will too. It would just be down right awkward if she didn't.

"Come on!" I said to Jade.

She reluctantly stepped out of her car as I opened it for her.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Jade asked me for the millionth time.

I nodded my head really quickly. You couldn't even begin to fathom how happy I was, how eager I was to completely redo this whole entire house. It will be so much fun.

"Think about the parties!"

I looked at my old house. It was just as I remembered it to be; yellow with green shutters. I know that Jade hated the way my house looked, but we can always change the colors. She has told me many times before that she absolutely hates the color yellow, I don't know why though. It's such a pretty color.

The house was obviously big enough to have some major parties. Like school year headlining parties. The ones people will be talking about at our reunions. We could even have the reunion party here. Ohmigod! This will be absolutely amazing!

"How are we going to pay for it?" Jade said.

"Follow me."

Jade was so confused. I guess I'm good at that kind of thing. Confusing people. Always have been always will be. It was what I was best at.

So anyway, I led Jade up to my room. I also know how much she hates my room. But it will have to stay like this, it's a necessity. I pulled a piece of paper out from underneath my mattress. It was old and crinkled. Probably because it's been under there for maybe three years.

"It's my parent's credit information. If we ever need anything, we'll just use this. And while we're at it, we can get jobs on the side for when that runs out."

"Cat, that whole entire plan is actually somewhat me like. I'm proud!"

Ohmigod! I don't think I've ever made anyone proud of me while I was inside of this house. It was kind of exhilarating. I couldn't possibly contain my happiness. I started jumping up and down and hugging Jade. I haven't been this happy in what felt like so long. I think it was because my dad was finally completely shut out of my life forever. Yay!

My smile immediately fell straight off my face when I saw a huge red stain on the floor. Jade could see how sad I had become so quickly. She me escorted out of my room and into the hallway. There was still a trail of red stains going into the hallway and down the stairs. I was shocked when I felt a pair of long arms wrap around me. They were Jade's.

"We can do your floors first." She said smiling down at me.

I turned around to face Jade, still in her arms, and hugged her back. Like I said million times before, Jade was a super duper good friend to me. The bestest friend in the whole wide world. Anybody would be absolutely lucky to ever even be in her presence. Especially when she's in a good mood. That's the best time to be around her because she'll actually be smiling one of those rare smiles that I told you guys about.

After that, we got started. Jade called up Beck and I called Andre and Robbie to come help us rip up the carpeting. After I got off the phone with Robbie I started to call Tori. She picked up the phone and I told her what we were doing. She happily agreed and told me she would be there in about half an hour. This will be fun. This will be very fun.

**(AN Should I dub this story finished, or shall I add some more drama? Suggestions for the possible further chapters? I think this is a good ending, but I'm having so much fun writing it. I'll go on if someone askd me too, but they also have to leave some sort of suggestion. Don't be shy, I won't bite.)**


	25. Chapter 25

So it did take a couple weeks to finish redoing the whole entire house. I love it. Absolutely, positively love it. Jade's room is exactly the way it was when she was staying at her apartment. You know, before she got kicked out and all. I told her she could take my parents room, but she said that she was ok with my brother's old room. All she had to do was modify it a little bit, his room was already all black and junk. I guess she liked it that way. Who am I kidding? I _know_ she liked it that way.

I just had to switch out the carpets in my room. It's not carpet anymore; I replaced it with wooden floors. That way they won't stain like the way a regular old carpet would. So yeah, now its wood not carpet. I like wood; you can slide around in socks on it and its all fun and stuff. My walls were still very, very pink and very, very frilly and I was very, very happy with it all. Very, very much.

So now we decided to have that party that me and Jade have been talking about. It's going to be the best party in the whole entire world. There's going to be dancing and boys and food and boys and karaoke. Oh! And a bunch of cute boys. Everybody who goes to Hollywood Arts is going to be there. And the gang was here helping us set up.

"Cat, where should we put the snack table?" that was Robbie.

"Right over there is fine." I told him, pointing towards the fireplace.

"Hey, where's Rex?" Tori asked

"Yeah? Did that puppet finally get turned into woodchips?" Jade mocked Robbie as she helped him move the table.

"He's not a puppet! And he didn't want to come."

We all looked at him weirdly. Rex loved parties, and this was supposed to be the second biggest party ever. Next to the one at Kenan's house that Andre had thrown a couple months ago. That one was amazing! It was so much fun, even though I couldn't talk at all. That sucked. Because we all know that I like to talk, and that whole entire week that I couldn't just killed me.

"Why didn't Rex wanna come?" Beck asked

Robbie looked down and shuffled his shoes. He kept taking his glasses and cleaning them and messing with them. Rex probably would've made fun of him for it all. He was obviously avoiding the question that we were all thinking. I had a little bit of a bad feeling about this.

"Dude, why didn't he want to come?" Andre repeated.

More silence. I was getting a little bit worried. Did something bad happen to Rex? Again?

"Spit it out, Shapiro!" Jade threatened him.

"He… he thinksCatandJadeare weirdandcrazyand… justplaintrouble."

We all just looked at him shocked. As much as he tried not to blush, he did. We all new exactly what he said and we all had the same reaction. I don't know about them, but I was mad at Robbie. Everyone thinks that I think Rex is real, but I most certainly don't. I know just as well as everyone else that Robbie uses Rex to express his emotions that he's too wimpy to express himself. Why did I just think that? That's mean.

"You take that back right now, puppet boy!" Jade threatened.

"I didn't say it, Rex did."

"Shut it, Robbie. We all know Rex is just some sort of façade you put up." Andre told him, pulling Jade off of him "Now say you're sorry to them. NOW!"

Andre pushed him up against a wall and looked deep into his eyes. I knew he wanted to do some more damage to him, but he was refraining from it. Plus, he was obviously having a hard time keeping himself from punching him right in the nose.

"But I didn't say it! I would be more than happy to bring Rex here for him to tell you, though."

I put a hand on Andre's shoulder. I felt him tense up a little bit and then settle back down. He finally set Robbie down, but still had him cornered. Andre refused to let Robbie just run away from him. Andre was a very defensive person. Especially with me. I don't know what it is, though.

"Just let him go."

"Go? Go where? Get that puppet?"

"No. Robbie, just go. Leave."

"Lil' Red? Are you sure? Knowing you, you're gonna be killing yourself over this. Of course, Jade will be just fine though. But you…"

I nodded my head and André moved out of the way for Robbie to runaway. That jerk. He could've at least said sorry. I don't even care if he says it through that stupid puppet says it for him. Note to self: stop acting so mean like Jade.

So Robbie ran away in all his cowardly ways. I stopped myself from crying as best as I could. I'll admit that I used to have a little mini-crush on Robbie, but that's been long gone for about two years now. Right now we had to worry about the party, not Robbie.


	26. Chapter 26

The party started around eight o'clock and a lot of people came. Most of them were from Hollywood Arts, but some of them looked like they were from other places. Like Northridge probably. Other just looked like some of my neighbors that had just decided to crash the party. I didn't mind really, but I could tell that it was getting on Jade's nerves. She doesn't like seeing people that she doesn't know who they are. Not anymore at least.

Several people (most of them being girls) had tried to hit on Beck while Jade was standing right there next to him. It was mostly some of the Northridge people and some of my neighbors that had no idea who Jade was. I could tell that Jade had been fuming and kicked out everybody who dared hit on Beck. I think that she even beat up a couple during the process.

André and Jade didn't leave my side the whole time. Well, Jade left a couple of times with Beck. I'm guessing that they just went to make out somewhere in a closet or something. It was a very Beck and Jade like thing to do at a party.

So now, Beck was leading Jade into the crowd and slowly disappeared leaving me and André leaning against the living room wall. We kept looking at each other and then back at the other kids that were dancing.

:Hey, Lil' Red, you wanna dance?" André asked me while we watched Beck and Jade walk off somewhere.

"Umm… Sure, why not." I said and pocked his stomach.

Just as I replied, the DJ put a slow song on and created a very awkward moment. André stuck his hand out towards me and I took it. He led me to the middle of my living room and pulled me in closer to him so that our bodies were touching. Goosebumps started to rise on my arms and legs. I could feel them as they rose and went back down, and rose again. I could feel some of them on André's arms, too.

"Is this ok?" he asked me semi-cautiously.

I nodded and we proceeded in what seemed like just swaying side to side. My head was on his shoulders while his arms were wrapped around my waist. I accidently let out a little tiny giggle, but thankfully, André didn't hear it. After my tiny outburst, I wrapped my arms around André's neck and took my head off his shoulders.

"This is a fun party." André said as I laid my head on his chest, creating an even more awkward moment than before. "Don't ya think?" He didn't seem to mind, though.

This song seemed like it was super long. It never seemed to have an end to it. But something happened as the song was playing. It was almost as if some chamber deep inside of me had finally opened up and I discovered something about myself. The thing was, I don't know what I had discovered.

"Yeah." I agreed.

André looked down at me. I never realized how much taller he was than me, but now I do. His little dreads fell to the sides of his face as he looked down. It was right then that I had discovered what was inside that little chamber. I think I liked André…

"You don't sound like you're havin' fun."

We were still swaying in the middle of this large crowd. I lifted my head up and looked into André's eyes. They were a dark brown and I felt like I would have collapsed if he wasn't holding me. I was almost getting lost in his eyes and I could feel my breathing starting to get heavier. I really hoped that he wasn't noticing.

"I-I am. I'm having a lot of fun." I said and put my chin on his chest again. I was still looking into his eyes; I was finding it hard to look away.

"That's good."

The whole entire time, we didn't break eye contact. I felt like we were doing a scene in Sikowitz's class and it was like we couldn't break character. Me being the ditzy girl who flirts with everyone and André being _the one_ _guy_ that I wanted to flirt back to me but never did. The guy that I don't think I could ever have because he was way too good for the likes of me. The guy that I don't deserve having, even as just a friend.

But _just _as I was thinking all of this, André lowered his head so that it was right in front of mine. He seemed to be hesitating and thinking about what he was going to do. Or well, what I _hope _he was planning on doing… And apparently, I was right. André closed the space that was between my face and his and… kissed me.


	27. Chapter 27

I saw some flashes going off… were people really taking pictures of us kissing? We pulled away when the song ended and awkwardly looked in different directions. Everyone had stopped dancing and were all staring at us, even Beck, Jade, Tori, and Trina, who had been one of the many crashers. All of them had the same look of shock spread across their faces. It wasn't _that _shocking that me and André kissed. Was it?

"I'm sorry Cat…"

I looked over at André. He was looking down at his shuffling feet and looked somewhat ashamed of himself. He shouldn't be the least bit ashamed. It was a good kiss. More enjoyable than any of the ones I've had before. But I probably shouldn't tell him that.

"Why?"

André looked at me again. I was kind of scared; I didn't know if the kiss was some sort of evil plot or if it was something that had just kind of happened. Either way, André took me by my wrist and led me away from the staring crowd. Everyone watched as we walked away. I could feel all the eyes burning wholes through my shirt and through my back. I was used to getting stared at, but not like this. This was just weird.

André pulled me into a closet when nobody was looking. Shocking, right? We actually had a few seconds when everyone was looking at each other and mumbling about me and André instead of just looking at us. What a nice change of events.

"I'm sorry, Cat. I shouldn't have pulled that on you." André automatically said as he pulled the door closed.

"Sorry for what? What did you pull?"

He looked a little bit timid and a lot bit shocked.

"That… That kiss. It was a stupid thing to do in this state."

"This state? You mean California? What, is it illegal to kiss in California?"

André just stared at me with a confused look on his face. I think I might've just said something really stupid. Well, at least André was used to hearing me say random things, he would understand.

"No. No. I meant, after everything that's been going on in your life lately. I should have waited a little bit longer before I made a move on you…"

Oh… so he thinks I'm just too fragile to handle anything at this moment. Well I'm not André! I'm not! Maybe I should say that to his face instead of just thinking it.

"André," I said and laid a hand on his shoulder. "It's ok. I didn't mind. I actually…"

My thought was interrupted by the sound of something breaking outside. I flinched and went to open the door, but stopped myself. The crashing sound can wait. Or even better, Jade can handle it. I looked back at André to see him looking like he was anticipating something. I leaned back against the door and looked into André's eyes for the umpteenth time tonight.

"Actually? Actually what?"

"What? Oh… I actually kind of liked the kiss. It was nice."

I felt warmth rising in my cheeks. I think I might have been blushing. It's a good thing that this closet was a little bit dark, that way he couldn't tell if I was even purple. Ooh! That would be cool. Is it to late to be purple? Would I need to go to some sort of scientist to do that? I should look into that tomorrow.

"Really?"

André moved closer toward me until our bodies were touching again. he leaned in and kissed me again. not as hard as before, but just a simple peck. And with that, my purple thoughts flew straight out of my head.

"Yeah." I said kind of breathy "I th—"

The door was flung open and I stumbled back into a masculine body and had André's hands clutching my waist. The body and André caught me as I fell and helped me steady myself. I turned around to see Beck, Jade, and Tori standing in front of me and André who was now standing next to me. They all looked kind of worried and surprised at what had just happened in the living room. Jade most of all. What? It's not like I'm some sort of goody-two-shoes Virgin Mary and André isn't exactly a saint himself. No offense André, but it's true, you're not.

"What's going on?" Tori asked.

Was it really any of her business what we do in our spare time? Was it any of theirs? No. It's not. It's mine and André's. In fact, we could be robbing a bank right now and it wouldn't be any of Tori's or anybody else's business. I wouldn't even think about telling them what we were doing. You know why? Because, it's not their business. It's ours.

"N-nothing…"

Jade pulled me by my arm and Beck did the same with André. I looked at the clock that was hanging above the front door. It said that it was ten o'clock already. Wow. That was some really quick party.

"André, we have to go. I think your grandma is freaking out right now." Beck said, not letting go of André's arm.

"Why do you think that?"

"Well… 'Beck, I think someone killed André. He's not picking up his phone. I think they're after me too. Buffalo nuggets.' Yeah, that was from your grandmother." Beck read the text out loud.

"Buffalo nuggets?" I asked André.

"She… I don't know…" he looked at me and only me. "Guys, can you give us a minute alone please?"

Everybody nodded reluctantly and stepped outside for a few minutes. Me and André were left alone again. I liked being with André possibly more than I liked being with Jade. And we all know that I like being with Jade a lot. She was my protector kind of.

(**AN I'm sorry that nothing eventful happened in this chapter. But I guess every story needs to have an uneventful chapter so something good can happen. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what that good thing is. Until then, enjoy!) **


	28. Chapter 28

**(AN don't think "poor Jade's getting kicked out of the story." Trust me, she's not )**

"Cat, you know I like you… Right?"

I don't know where André was going with this, but I smiled at him anyway. A part of me always knew that I did like him, but the other part of me always tried to say that I didn't. the other part won most of the time. Usually, he doesn't say anything bad about me, like most people do. He is the one who gave me the nickname, Little Red. I liked that nickname. I always get a funny (good funny) feeling in my stomach whenever he touched me, but I get that feeling whenever a cute boy touches me. Ooh! And I just said that he was cute! That has to mean _something!_

"Right." I finally agreed "I think I like you too…"

"That's the thing though, Cat." André said and put his hand on my forearm. "With you, no one ever knows if you seriously like someone, or if you're just getting a kick out of flirting. We all know how much you love to flirt."

I was a little bit hurt by André's sudden outburst. I looked past him to avoid looking into his eyes. There was a broken lamp on the floor. I think that was the crashing noise…

"But…" I was a little bit distracted by the lamp. "I do like you…" it almost came out as a whimper

"Cat…" he said in that silky smooth voice of his that made me melt "Look me in the eyes and tell me that you like me."

I giggled and looked André in the eyes.

"What? What's so funny?"

"You sang a song with… T-Tori called Tell Me That You…" I was almost afraid to say the rest of the song "Love Me…"

Oh great, there's another thing to be jealous of Tori about. It was so obvious! She liked André and André wrote that song so André obviously loves Tori! How could I be so stupid? I can't do this to Tori, it would crush her.

"Hah… That is funny."

I moved a little bit closer to André. I just realized that that song was currently playing. I guess Jade forgot to turn the stereo off. I started to wiggle a little bit. I wiggle when I get excited, I can't help it. André laid his hands on my hips and I automatically stopped wiggling.

"André?"

"Yeah?"

I looked into his eyes again. His deep… brown… eyes… Snap out of it Cat! Get back to reality!

"I do like you." I said and poked his stomach.

André moved even closer so that our bodies were touching for the third time this night. Not that I minded or anything. I actually enjoyed it oh so very much. I giggled and looked down my shoulder. I felt a pair of warm lips make contact with my right cheek. Another one a little bit closer to my lips, but not close enough. I felt a pair of strong arms wrap around me and pull me even closer.

"Time's up!"

I jerked away from André and looked towards the front door. Jade was in the doorway, arms crossed and scowl at the ready. Tori and Beck were standing behind her with their arms outstretched towards her.

"We tried to stop her." Beck said and walked up to stand next to his girlfriend.

"André, you grandmother is really freaking out, she just called me." Tori said and held up her Pear Phone

"What did she say?"

"I… don't know… it was all just one big word that was completely unfathomable."

André looked towards me again. He pulled me into a little hug and slowly walked away. I followed him a little bit but stopped before I almost ran into him.

"Come on Beck. I need a ride home."

André lightly hit Beck on the arm and gestured towards the still open door. I felt a breeze come in and shivered a little bit.

"On it. Tori, you coming?"

Jade looked towards Tori with a half angry half shocked look. I felt a fight about to break out.

"Whoa whoa whoa, wait a second! You _drove_ Vega here?"

"Yes." Beck looked towards Tori "Tori, I think you should plan on running…"

Tori looked at Jade and then at the open door. Jade tried to lunge at Tori but was too late, she was already out the door. I heard a door slam and a car lock outside. Beck ran out the door after Jade. It was just me and André again. Without words, he leaned in and gave me a small peck on the lips that slowly turned into something a little bit faster and a little bit better.

"Get out of there Vega and fight like a man!" I heard Jade yell from outside.

I accidently laughed a little bit into André's mouth. There was a banging noise and something that sounded like a door opening. We pulled away and André walked towards the door. It was almost completely heart breaking watching him walk away from me like that. After something that amazing. After a night this amazing.

"See ya at school tomorrow Lil' Red." He winked and walked out of the house. "Jade! Get _off _of Tori!"

"Jade! Where did you get those bush daisies from!" I heard Beck yelling.

I giggled again, walked towards my _still _open door, and watched as Jade tried to shove a small bouqet of bush daisies in Tori's face. I wondered ehy she always kept those in her monkey fur bag. I guess now I know. Beck and André were trying to pull Jade off of Tori and failed miserably. This went on for a few more minutes and it ended with Beck dragging Jade back into the house.

"For a girl that just had a major surgery, you're still really strong." Beck walked back out the door and finally closed the door. "Tori! You can stop running now!"

**(AN This chapter is so fluffy, I think I might die! Remember how Tori is allergic to bush daisies?)**


	29. Chapter 29

**(AN Sorry it's been so long since I've updated. My computer is acting all screwy. I Would like to thank mcal55cb a bunch for inspiring me in this chapter and letting me transform her idea a little bit. Be sure to read her story, Rumors! :])**

The next day at school was... interesting. For starters, Tori's whole entire face is an ugly, blotchy mess. She looked even worse than that time she let me do my monster movie make up on her. That was a funny time, I'm still laughing at that little incident. You have to admit, that was hilarious. Anyway, that must be from Jade and her bush daisies. I was still giggling at that too. But it did not make me forget about her ruining my moment with Andre. That _one _moment that I had always yearned for. Why wouldn't she just let us have that one little moment?

Well, anyway, besides Tori and her puffy, blotchy, face, other stuff happened. not neccasarily good things, but things. Things were super awkward between me and Andre for the majority of the day. Sure, we hung out all day and all that good stuff, but... I geuss that there was just this weird feeling between us all day. More than once, one of us would try to hold the others hand, but the other one would pull away whenever someone was looking. Everytime I did it, I would feel terrible about it. I think Andre was feeling the same thing. I hope Andre was thinking the same thing.

So now, here I am. In the hallway. With Andre. Finally all alone. No people, no teachers, and especially not that creepy janitor that always seems to be hanging around all over the place. No one could possibly interrupt us now. And guess what... Just as I finish thinking this, me and Andre are starting to move in a little closer, and guess who just so happens to be running down the hallway. Who else but Jade West. She's clutching onto her Pear Phone for dear life as she's rushing down the hall towards us. Dang it, Jade! You always do this to us!

"Cat," she panted "You should_ really _see this. Andre, you too."

Jade shoved her phone into our faces and kept switiching it to from Andre's view, to mine, and back to Andre's. I finally snatched it from her were two pictures of me and Andre on the screen. The pictures were on TheSlap mobile and was opened up to this popular gossip blog. One of us kissing after that dance we had, and the other of Andre taking me into the closet.

"Oh! Look Andre, it's us!" I said and giggled a little bit.

"Yeah, Cat..." He said and took the phone from my hands. "But look at the captions..."

I took the phone back and looked at the screen again. The captions were in really tiny, red letters. They were barely readable, but I guess it was just because of the tiny screen. I read, and re-read the captions, I couldn't beleive it. No matter how many times I read, it just seemed... impossible.

"Virgin Mary no more?" I read out loud to Jade and Andre. "Jade, what is this? Is this supposed to be some sort of terrible, mean joke? If it is, please tell me now."

"Lil' Red... Cat, I'm really sorry, but I don't think this is a joke."

The bell rang and all my fellow classmates came barging out of the class rooms and flooded intothe hallways. All of them making noise and some of them starting to sing and dance. Which is what usually happens when we switched classes. EVerybody had their phones out and were most likely on TheSlap, looking at those pictures of me and Andre. Everytime someone saw us, they stopped and took their sweet time looking at the two of us together. People were whispering and pointing at us. Because that is exactly what I needed right now, people spreading rumors about the two of us.

"Well, who did this!" Jade shouted into the crowd of people. "Who put up these stupid pictures!"

Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at the three of us. They all knew exactly what Jade was talking about, everybody read that gossip blog all the time. If somebody didn't read it, then they obviously had to be new to the school. Yet, no one stood up and said that they were the one who put it up. I could understand that. That certain blog is run by the seniors. The seniors were at lunch right now, so I could understand why no one was stepping up.

I could tell that Jade had to be thinking the same thing that I was thinking. So was Andre. They both started running towards the direction of the Asphalt Cafe, leaving me by Andre's keyboard locker. Everyone stared at me, all by me lonesome. If I was a turtle, I would be using my turtle abilites right now to pull my head into my shell and completely shutting out the world. The best i could do was tuck my head into my shirt and.

I turned around to face the keyboard that Andre attached to his locker at the beggining of freshman year. I could still feel the eyes burning holes straight through my skin. I could feel them. All of them. I just hope that they can't see through my clothes. And then... someone said it. Something that i had just been waiting for someone to say. To mutter underneath their breath to their friend. I tired to ingnore them and press the keys of the keyboard, but the notes didn't block out any of what they were saying. I could still here them.

"Do you see the way she dresses? She is _such _a slut..."

"I know right."


	30. Chapter 30

**(AN If you guys like this story, the background story to this is Remember When We Were Kids. It's these guys as kids :])**

I was still standing facing Andre's locker when I heard Lane, our guidance counselor, coming from the ceiling. I had been standing there, alone, for maybe thirteen minutes and I was playing with Andre's keyboard thingy. It was actually very enjoyable to press the button, especially the black ones.

"Cat Valentine, please report to the Lane's office." The ceiling said to me and then repeated itself "Cat Valentine, please report to the Lane's office."

"Ok!" I told the ceiling and walked off to Lane's office. I caught a few people staring at me as I skipped to the office.

When I got to the office, guess who was there... Andre, Jade, Robbie, and some kid I didn't know. For some reason, Rex wasn't there at all. Maybe he was sick or something. Robbie and the kid I didn't know both had swolen eyes. Jade's hair was all messed up and Andre was holding an ice pack to his jaw. They both looked super angry at Robbie and that other boy. They looked as if they had gotten into some sort of giant fight or something like that.

"Robbie, Carter, would you two like to start?" Lane said from his hanging whicker chair.

"Umm, Cat?" The boy who I was guessing was Carter said. I nodded my head at him and moved to stand next to Lane. "Well, you see-"

"I gave Carter the picture's of you and... _Andre... _and he put them on that blog." Robbie interupted Carter.

"Yeah, what he said..."

I looked at Robbie in complete disbelieve. Last time I checked, me adn Robbie were really good friends. Not people who do... _this_ to each other. I really thought we were friends...

"Cat... I'm really sorry. You have no idea how much I wish I could take it back."

"Lane," I said and waited for his attention. "There are _so_ many other rumors on that blog, why does mine get special attention?"

"Wait a second, you haven't seen the posters?" Jade joined in on the conversation.

"What posters?"

Lane got out of his chair and walked over to a little desk in the corner. He opened up a drawer and took out a rolled up peice of paper. Unrolled, it was three feet long and about two feet wide. On the poster were the pictures of me and Andre at the party. They had the same caption on them as the ones on the blog. Oh yay, here's another thing for me to worry about.

"Lil' Red, I'm sorry." Andre said, still holding up the ice pack.

Andre walked over to were I was standing and threw his arm around my waist.

"Robbie... come here." I said and motioned for him to come.

Robbie slowly and cautiously walked towards me. I made Andre let go of me so that I could feel open enough for what I'm about to do. Robbie looked down at me with brown, ugly eyes. Right now, I really hate Robbie. He can go die in a hole for all I care. I raised my hand and threw across Robbie's face as hard as I could. I was getting ready to explode.

"You do this to me and Andre, and you think it will all be peachy keen by you just saying 'oh sorry, Cat' and giving me some sort of weird look." I started. With every couple of words, I took another step closer to Robbie until he was backed into a wall. "You know what, Robbie Shapiro... I hate you!"

"Now wait a second," Robbie said "_Hate_ is just such a strong word..." I glared at him and he shut up. Was I really this intimidating?

"You wanna know something, Robbie? Just a few minutes ago, some random girl that I didn't even _know _called me a frickin slut!"

Robbie was obviously speechless. Lane told us all to leave and slammed the door after we all got out of the room. Robbie and that Carter kid quickly got out of our sight. Good thing, because Jade was absolutely fuming. It looked like she was getting ready to punch something, and hard. I guess Jade is just really protective of the people that she's close too, which was only two people. Me and Beck.

Andre looked the same exact way. He had this look of pure anger in his eyes and it was almost burning to look into them. I absolutely hated seeing my friends like this. It was so hard to be around them when they were angry. I wonder what I look like when I get angry.

"So... You guys got into a fight for me?"

**(AN I'm enjoying writing this, I really am... But I don't know how to end it. It has to end soon, right? I mean, this is the thirtieth chapter. I really appreciate the people who have stuck with this whole entire story, but I need some help... How should this story end? I know I always ask for suggestions, but right now, I'm begging for them. Thanks to everyone who has stuck with this story for so long :] Love you guys!)**


	31. Chapter 31

**(AN I'm so so so so so so so sorry this took forever! Between the hurricane and school and lacrosse practice, everything has been pretty hectic!)**

"Lil' Red… What're you thinkin' 'bout?" André said, snapping me out of my daydream.

It had been a few weeks after that rumor had been spread, and it's only died down just a bit. People stll stopped and stared every time they saw me and André holding hands in the hallway or something. I couldn't understand what the big deal was… why couldn't people understand that nothing happened? _Nothing _happened. I mean… look at us! Why would we want to ruin our reputations by doing something stupid like that. Well, to b honest, I think I'm getting it worse than André is. All the guys are giving him "props" no matter how much André denies it. Mean while, I'm seating here with everyone pointing and whispering.

"Uh… nothing. Just thinking."

"About?"

I waited before I responded to him. If it told him what I was thinking about, then he would want to talk about it. Right now, this particular moment, I didn't really want to talk about anything. Not even unicorns.

"Stuff."

A little laugh escaped André's lips and another minute of silence. We sat in my living room, waiting for Jade to get home from her audition, today was the day the saw who got what parts. Me, Jade, André, and Beck were planning to go out to dinner after the audition. Hollywood Arts was doing a production of Pom-Pom Zombies. From what I could tell, it was about a girl somehow getting turned into a zombie. Jade was trying out for the lead, Cindy Sue. But the only problem was—

"I hate Vega!"

Jade had burst through the door, practically in flames. She threw her Gears of War bag towards the empty arm chair and missed, the bag hitting the ground with a thud. Jade let out a soft growl and marched up the stairs to where I guess she was going to her room. That was confirmed when a slamming noise vibrated through the air. I immediately forgot about my problem and started worrying about Jade.

"I'm thinking she didn't get the part…" André stated, looking towards the stairs.

I shook his arm off of my shoulder and stood up from the couch. I trudged up the steps ad walked to the bedroom that used to be my brothers. Now, it's occupied by an angry Jade West. I lightly knocked on the door, waiting for a response. I didn't get one after a few seconds, so I knocked again. Again. And again.

"Jade, come on. Please?

A clicking noise came from the other side of the door. The slab of wood in front of me swung inwards to reveal a Jade with an angry expression, arms crossed over her chest. I was getting a feeling from her body language that she wanted me to leave, but I wasn't about to do that now.

"Jade?"

A grunt emanated from Jade's throat. Her glare burned into my eyes so badly, I wanted to run away. This was just Jade when she's angry. Which is most of the time.

"Guess who got the lead in the play. Again." Jade said in the calmest tone she could conjure.

"I'm sorry Jade, I know how much you wanted that part. Did you get a part at all?"

She shook her head and turned around, walking back inside the door to her room. "I'm going to get ready. Be down in a few minutes."

*****At the restaurant*****

"Well that was good." Beck said and patted his stomach. "Don't you think Jadey."

"Don't call me that." Jade spat at her boy friend, obviously still upset.

Silence consumed the four of us as we sat at our table, waiting for our waitress to bring us the check. André and Beck were going to split the bill, both of them getting their wallets ready. As the boys left to pay, I reached over the table and put my hands over Jade's. She hesitated to look me in the eyes.

"Jade… There's going to be other plays that you will most definitely get the lead in. Trust me. Don't tell her I said this, but you are so much better than Tori is."

A small smile spread across Jade's face as I said the last part. I knew that that would pick her up just a little bit. I mean, it was the least I could do after all that I put her through. She didn't need to invite me into her apartment, but she did anyway.

"Thanks Cat." She whispered back to me.

Beck and André returned to the table after tracking down our waitress a few minutes afterwards. André reached his hand down towards me and Beck did the same with Jade.

"Are you two ready to go?"

We both nodded our heads and walked out of the restaurant with arms slung around our shoulders. All was well, until I heard a somewhat familiar voice ring from somewhere behind me. I recognized it; it was the girl in the hallway who called me a slut. Now she was trying to stir up some more trouble.

"Mom, look, that's the girl I was telling you about."

"_That's _Cat Valentine? Is she dating that black boy? That's… That's just plain wrong."

**(AN Ugh… what did you think of this chapter?)**


	32. Chapter 32

**(AN I'm really sorry about how long this took me. But I swear, I had a good reason. You see, school started and my mom's been jumping down my throat about my grades. I seriously wish I could update more often, but it's really hard to, and getting ideas for other stories while I'm trying to focus on one doesn't help either. I keep getting sidetracked with new ideas. Well, anyways, enjoy this chapter!)**

I couldn't stop thinking about the day at the restaurant. I absolutely hate it when people talk bad about other people like that; it's just not fair. I never understood why people act that way sometimes. It bugged me to death wondering if other people thinks like that lady does; I sure hope not. But then again, that girls mother was the only one who made a comment about it. Unless, people were saying these things behind my back. Behind Andre's back. When I asked Jade about it, she just shook her head and told me not to worry about it.

"Don't worry Cat. This whole entire thing will blow over sooner or later." She told me. "Those people just don't understand what you two have."

When I asked Tori about it, she said pretty much the same thing. To not worry about it and let people think what they want to think. But that didn't help me. I _don't _want people to think like that. It's just so… icky. I would never think like that. Jade wouldn't. Tori wouldn't. Beck and Andre wouldn't. Robbie… might. I'm not so sure about Robbie anymore. Ever since Jade and Andre beat him up, he kind of separated from the rest of the group. Not even Beck talks to him that much anymore, and they were pretty close.

Now that I think of it, Robbie would definitely think that way. He would do anything to ruin my relationship with Andre.

So now here I am, sitting on the couch all alone, waiting for Jade to get home. She's still hell-bent on ruining Tori's chances at the lead in the play. It's Steamboat Suzy all over again. Jade's done everything from rigging some booby traps to putting itching powder in her whole zombie costume.

So anyway, I was trying to forget about the lady at the restaurant when I heard a knock on the door. I got up to answer it, wondering who it could possibly be. No one ever really visits me or Jade; we always have to invite people over. Other than that, we pretty much don't get any company at all.

Another knock sounded from the wooden door as I stood in front of it. I put on a smile, reached for the handle, and opened the door. Standing in front of me was a boy with a goofy smile and poofy hair. In his arms was a puppet that pretty much looked exactly like him, minus the glasses.

"Hey Cat." Robbie said and stepped through the door.

Without my approval, Robbie walked over to the couch and leaned against the side of it. As minutes passed by, everything started to feel like a dream world. My body went on auto-pilot and I had absolutely no control whatsoever.

"H-hey Robbie. Rex."

Rex nodded his head at me and surprisingly made no comment on anything. At all. Very un-Rex like if you ask me.

"So, umm, how have you been doing?"

"Okay, I guess."

Robbie smiled and nodded; Rex just sat and stared blankly at a wall. I don't think Rex likes me all that much. One time, he made fun of my hair, and Robbie did absolutely nothing about it. We didn't talk for, like, two whole hours after that.

"Cat?" I looked at him and leaned against the wall. "You have to understand that I'm really sorry about what happened. I honestly did not mean any of it. Can you find it somewhere in your heart to forgive me?"

"N-no… No. I can't."

Robbie set down Rex and took small, gentle steps towards me. The closer he got, the more scared I got. Never in my life would I imagine Robbie to be this intimidating. The anger in his eyes flared with each step; it reminded me of when people poke fires with those sticks when they start to die down. Each footstep sounded like the troll from those Harry Potter movies. From where Rex was sitting, a sound kind of like a growl emanated. It might've been a whimper.

As soon as Robbie got face to face with me, a fist pounded against the wall. Some words that I couldn't comprehend were shouted into my face and I just watched blankly. The only words that were brought to my ears were "why not" and "come here". Before I could describe what was going on, two hands gripped on to either side of me. I was being shook by surprisingly strong hands. There was more yelling and a bunch of icky words thrown my way.

A couple minutes later, the front door opened. Robbie's hands let go of me and we both looked towards the door. Jade and Beck were standing in the doorway, laughing about something. As soon as they saw the scenario, they automatically went poker face on us. Like, we couldn't tell what in the world would possibly be running through there heads at the time.

Out of nowhere, Beck started charging towards Robbie. Robbie, being the wimp that he is, tried running away; but to no avail, Beck caught him. Punches were thrown and yucky words were shouted in a matter of minutes. It seemed as if World War Three had broken out in the middle of my living room.

Jade had rushed over to my side. As quick as she got to me, I was pushed upstairs and into my room. Jade forced me down to my bed and sat down next to me, slinging an arm over my shoulder. Crashing noises came from downstairs followed by a door slamming. Jade was trying to block out the noises by humming some song into my ear. It sounded like Pop Goes the Weasel, but it could've been something else.

With another crashing noise coming from outside, a disturbing image popped into my mind. It was my dad. He must have been drinking or something because he wasn't walking right. In his hand was a broken bottle with some sort of red liquid dripping from it. My dad looked like a mad man that had escaped from an asylum.

"_Come here Kitty Cat. I won't hurt you."_

Those words were repeated over and over again until the image finally left my head. Little remnants of it still floated around, but it wasn't enough to scare me. Or maybe it was.

"Are you ok Cat? You're shaking."

I looked up into Jade's icy blue eyes and noticed something. In different lighting, her eyes were different colors. Isn't that weird? I mean, she has really pretty eyes, and that must be why. Because they never stay the same. They're always changing.

"Cat? Are you ok?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. I guess."

A little while after, Beck charged into the room. His nose was a little bit bloody and his left eye was definitely puffy. He sat down on the other side of Jade and they started asking questions. I answered them without putting much thought into any of it. Most of the time, I was just giving simple yes or no answers. My mind was set on one thing, and one thing only. Robbie and my dad are a whole lot alike. Getting mad over silly things. Saying junk that they know will make me feel bad. Yeah, they could be like twins if Robbie was a bit older.

**(AN So… what did you think? Any favorite parts for this one? Any feedback is welcome :])**


	33. Chapter 33

My nerves have been fairly racked ever since the Robbie incident. Especially since Beck and Andre have been keeping such a close eye on both him and me lately. every time we have a class together, the two of them always make sure Robbie is sitting way off in the corner or something. Also, Jade always stays an arm's length away from me at all times. I feel like I have some sort of twenty-four hour bodyguard system like the president does. Though, I think I'd be safe enough with just Jade guarding me; Beck and Andre are just the intimidation factor. Well, more Andre than Beck. I don't know if you've noticed, but Beck is kind of scrawny. Don't tell him I said that!

You know how I said that Beck and Andre keep putting distance between me and Robbie? Well, as we're sitting in Sikowitz's class, Robbie stands up and walks over to me from his little corner, leaving Rex on the chair he had been sitting in. Beck was helping Sikowitz with something and Andre had went to the bathroom.

"Hey there Cat." he said as he sat down, giving me a welcoming smile.

"Hey hey."

A slight awkward silence filled the air, leaving me kind of uncomfortable with the situation. You know, know that I think of it… I don't understand what the big deal is. I mean, yeah, he had a slight moment of anger. So? don't we all? Just look back on Robbie's history, he's never gotten into any sort of fights at school or anything like that. In fact, for as long as I've known Robbie, he's one of the sweetest kids I know. Aren't we all entitled to at least _one _outburst?

I mean, I think I've had an outburst once. Given I was five years old and my friend had pushed me off the trampoline. So, I'm pretty sure I was allowed to be mad at her. I got over it though.

"So what have you been doing lately?" he asked.

I told him about a pony ride that Jade had taken me on a few days ago and how we played Baby Golf afterwards. He didn't seem very interested in the story, but I told him anyway. As I told him about how Jade hit the manager of the Baby Golf course over the head with the golf club, Beck walked up to us. Arms crossed and scowl set, he didn't look all that pleased with the situation at hand. Andre soon came in after him.

"Dude… Haven't we talked about this?"

As soon as the words left Beck's mouth, Robbie started stuttering. I looked over to him to see trembling hands and nervous eyes. I swear, I've never seen anything so pitiful in my entire life.

"Guys…" All eyes turned towards me. Jade walked up behind the two boys and glared at Robbie as she saw him. "Well, can't we just forgive him."

I sigh of relief came from Robbie as groans came from the others. Jade, Beck, and Andre looked at me as if I had lost my mind. I don't understand why they can't see the situation like I can.

"Cat, do you seriously think we could forgive _him?" _Jade asked me. "I mean, I'm not even sure how you are."

"Think about it, Cat. Imagine if you were us. How would you handle this?"

"Yeah, Lil' Red. Seeing as how he hasn't even given you a legit apology."

"Actually," Robbie started "That's kind of what I wanted to do. I wanted to apologize. I know you guys might be kind of reluctant, well, because of how things blew over last time, but…"

"Now what makes you think we can trust you?" Andre asked.

"Well… I don't know. Sometimes… you just have to take a chance on people, I guess. You have to trust them."

"Stop being such a mushball!" Rex shouted from across the room.

I'm not sure if the others heard it, but Robbie was sounding pretty sincere to me. Now, of course, it could've just been him acting like he was sincere, but he's not all that good of an actor. No offense to him or anything.

With a few conversational glances, it seemed that my three friends had come to a conclusion. A little half smile rose on Beck's face as he reached a hand out to Robbie. An even bigger smile spread across Robbie's lips as he took the hand and shook it, feeling accepted once again. Jade let out a soft scoff and walked away from our small group. Andre seemed a bit unsure about the whole thing, seemingly not wanting to give into Robbie all that easily. But, if I knew Andre, he would get over it soon enough. He always does.

"You got one more chance." Andre told him. "But _just _one!"

With an understanding smile, Robbie grabbed his hand and shook it, just as he did with Beck's. Andre gave him a small smile back and reciprocated the handshake.

"Alright class, let's do some acting!" Sikowitz shouted from the front of the room, making the whole class jump.

And with that, Robbie went back to his seat in the corner with Rex, letting Andre take the one he had been in. The class went on as it usually does, as did the rest of the day. Robbie went back to sitting with us at lunch, even though Jade and Tori didn't seem to like it all that much. During the whole entire lunch period, they both kept glaring over at Robbie, as if to make sure he didn't do anything. All the icey glares Robbie had been receiving were making him sit with a stiff posture, always seeming to be watching his back. Making sure no one came up behind him or anything, he kept turning around, just to make sure. Even though I shouldn't be thinking that his discomfort was funny, I couldn't stop myself from giggling every time he flinched at the sound of his name being called.

**AN I hope you liked this! Did you have any favorite parts? What do you think will happen next? Tell me what you thought :]**

**I feel the need to explain my writing process… You see, I have three notebooks, each one acts like a filter. The first one is where I write down the first draft of each story/chapter, then that get's copied down into the next notebook, where I add a little bit of flare and extra description. Then, after it's down in the second notebook, I put it in the third one, which is where I check for spelling mistakes. And last, but not least, I type it into the computer. Now, you have to bare with my keyboard, though, because I have this extremely old laptop and the keys are all junky, causing me to skip letters sometimes. Meaning, I might have some typos here and there.**


	34. Chapter 34

**AN I should really thank GrandeBear (Katie) for motivating me with this story for the past couple of months. So… thank you GrandeBear! This has been sitting in my notebook for a long while now and, without your motivating skills, I would have never typed it up. Go follow her on Twitter!**

Over the next couple of weeks, Robbie melded himself back into our little group. Though the acted rather coldly to him, I tried to be as nice as possible. Let's face it, how could any of us stay mad at out nerdy, awkward, puppet wielding friend? Exactly, we can't. it only took a few days for Beck to act the same way around him as he used to. After Beck caved in, the others followed suit. Even Jade seemed to act coolly around him again, only leaving minor insults for Robbie to deal with, which is basically the way it was before any of this ever happened.

In fact, the other day, we all went to the mall. It was Saturday and Robbie suggested it, he even drove us all. None of us even knew that he could drive, apparently he can. He actually has a pretty cool car; it's some sort of blue convertible with leather seats. When Rex suggested that we go to the candy shop, he won my trust back immediately. Robbie said he would pay for my candy; he offered to pay for Jade, Beck, Andre, and Tori, but they didn't want to get anything. By then, Robbie had won over Beck, but Tori, Jade, and Andre were still reluctant to forgive him.

Getting Tori back into the rhythm of hanging out with Robbie again was sort of complicated. No matter how hard he tried, hard headed and reluctant. But, when Robbie saw his opportunity, he lunged for it. Tori had to take a test that she had no clue how to study for, and Robbie was able to help her. Using my keen persuasion skills, I talked Tori into getting help from our geeky buddy. Within just a few day, the two were re-friended and I even think that Robbie's crush on Tori resurfaced. By the time the Tori had to take that test, she was completely ready. With the aide of Robbie, Tori was able to ace the test with no problem at all.

Jade's hatred of Robbie slipped just a few notches just a couple of days ago. He walked up to Jade with a descent sized Staples bag and a little jewelry box. Putting down the two objects and slowly backing away, Robbie awaited Jade's reaction. Reluctantly, she picked up the Staples bag and found a new pair of shiny, blue and green scissors. Seeming pretty happy with them, she put them in her back pocket and reached for the small box. The lid of the box bared a Dakotah Rae logo, giving me an idea of what might have been in the box. I watched as Jade's face lit up when she pulled out a silver necklace with a scissor pendant on the end. This might have been the one and only time that I have ever seen Jade touch Robbie in a non-harmful way; in fact, it was a very nice way. She actually hugged him. Yes. A hug. I was shocked out of my mind. I tried pinching myself, but it hurt, so it must have been reality. Right? isn't that how it works?

Well, whether that was reality or not, I guess I'll never know. But, I will know how Robbie won Andre over. It was a Tuesday and the two boys were video chatting. The three of us had to do a project together for Sikowitz and Andre refused to go over to Robbie's house or let Robbie come over to his. I still can't exactly comprehend what had happened, but Andre's grandmother went berserk over something and Robbie somehow calmed her down. When it was all over, we asked Robbie how he did it. When he started explaining, we started loosing the connection and the image on the computer was going all blurry. A few seconds later, we completely lost connection, not even being able to start our project. We still don't exactly know how he did it, or if he could ever do it again.

Things were just getting back to normal, that is, until one day… when my dad showed up.

**AN Dakotah Rae is an AWESOME jewelry design and I seriously suggest you check her out! **

**PS I think this story might actually be coming to an end. But how many times have I said **_**that**_** before?**


	35. Chapter 35

**AN Ohmygod, my Fishies! I am **_**so **_**sorry that I took so long to update this! I didn't mean to! I promise! It just kind of happened. I. Am. So. Sorry!**

Everything was going swimmingly at my house and then, all of a sudden, he just appeared…

There was a knock at the door, not just a light little tap like the way my friends do, but something harder. As if someone really wanted to get in to my house. Jade was upstairs taking a shower and I was in the kitchen making popcorn for movie night. I left the microwave to see who was at the door, leaving behind the noises of slight popping. There was another knock, this one more angry sounding. I started to feel a little bit nervous as I got closer and closer to the front door.

Silence. That's all there was when I opened the door. Silence and, of course, a person. A middle aged man with a quickly receding, speckled gray hairline. He's lost a lot of hair since the last time I've seen him, considering that it's only been a few months at most. He's lost a lot of weight as well; he wasn't exactly a big man to begin with. Jail has definitely taken a toll on his stature, aging him at least ten to fifteen years.

Even though every fiber of my body told me to slam the door, lock it, and go burrow out in my room until Jade got out of the shower. Instead, I just stood there and gawked at the transformed man standing in front of me. A million different thoughts ran threw my head as I stared at my father, looking as weak and beaten up as ever. Memories of being ignored by him and my mother as a kid, birthdays spent by myself as he watched football with my brother, and, of course, the memories of being thrown against the wall by the frail looking man.

There was one memory, though, that stood out from all the rest. I was ten years old, around Halloween time when it happened. For whatever reason, my dad felt like spending time with me and my brother, so we rented a bunch of scary movies from the Blockbuster in town. I remember we stayed up until midnight watching movies like Dracula, Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, and Friday the Thirteenth. I remember almost peeing my pants at every at every twist in the storyline (I was ten, okay) and all but curling up in my father's lap for protection from Jason and Freddie Krueger. It's probably one of the only good memories I have of spending time with my father. My brother as well.

"Kitty Cat?" He stuttered in a strained, raspy whisper. Behind him, I noticed a cop car hiding out in the dark of the night with a police officer leaning against the front of it. Kicking himself off from the car, the police officer walked towards the front door.

"Cat Valentine," He spoke up once he reached the door, startling my father. "May I have a word with you for a moment?"


	36. Chapter 36

"I'm Charles Toronto, and I'm your father's parole officer." The man said as he brushed past me, tugging my father along with him. I didn't notice it until now, but my dad had his wrists cuffed together behind his back.

"Come in, please." I muttered sarcastically under my breath. In an instant, Toronto stopped and turned on his heels, now facing me.

"What was that, miss?" Toronto asked sternly, glaring at me, even though I knew he heard me. When the death stare was over, he shoved my dead onto the couch and sat down next to him. He gestured for me to sat down.

_No, I'm just going to stand her all night. _I thought to myself, trying not to look like an idiot as I glared at the man in the black suit and my father. Without further ado, I sat down on the couch across from the pair. There was about three minutes of silence before Toronto spoke up again.

"So here's the deal; your father here has been showing excellent behavior and his lawyer suggested being released a few months early for it." Toronto said in a matter-of-factly attitude. So far, I couldn't believe it. "But, of course, we need your permission before we can do anything like that."

My father looked up at me, giving me a sorrowful look. For a second, I almost felt kind of sorry for him. But only almost. It was as if the rest of his life weighed on my shoulders. My choice would determine how he would life for the next couple of months. I almost told him to leave and never come back, but then I started thinking again. I thought about my memory of the Halloween movie night all those years ago, and in the moment, it was as if I had forgiven him for everything. As if I could maybe just channel that inner him, to see if I can bring out the father that I had that night.

Maybe, with enough work, I could even convince my mother and brother to come back. Maybe if I could just fix my father up, back to his old self. Well, not exactly his old self. Better than his old self. A version of him that would acknowledge his daughters existence, maybe even love her. All it would take would be some family therapy sessions and maybe a few heart to hearts with each other. Of course, Jade would have to be apart of this, considering she lives here now.

Maybe this could work out.

From upstairs, I could hear Jade stomping around. The noises went on for a good five minutes before they started to travel towards the staircase. My heart nearly stopped; I didn't want her to see Charles Toronto here with my father. Especially not at this time of night. Things could go very wrong very fast. A few seconds later, I heard her clomping down the stairs.

"Cat! Have you seen my-" Jade said as she appeared from the stairs. "Cat… what's going on here? Who is that?" she asked with a noticeable hint of shakiness in her usually strong, stable voice.

**AN I'm not exactly all that familiar with how parole works and everything, so if I get something wrong, would you please (kindly) correct me? Any advice on how it works would be much appreciated, as well.**

**Thank you :]**


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